Tonya Couch (R) enters the courtroom to appear before state District Judge Wayne Salvant in Fort Worth, Texas, January 8, 2016. REUTERS/Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Pool 
 
 Jalisco state prosecutor Eduardo Almaguer speaks to the media about the detention of U.S. national Ethan Couch during a news conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, December 29, 2015. REUTERS/Javier Hoyos 
 
 A cyclist pedals past the Jalisco state immigration office, where Ethan Couch and his mother Tonya are in custody and waiting for deportation, in Guadalajara, Mexico, December 30, 2015. REUTERS/Javier Hoyos 
 
 U.S. national Ethan Couch is pictured in this undated handout photograph made available to Reuters on December 29, 2015 by the Jalisco state prosecutor office. Couch, a Texas teen from a wealthy family who was a fugitive after breaking his probation sentence for killing four people while driving drunk, has been taken into custody in Mexico, a law enforcement official said on Monday. REUTERS/Fiscalia General del Estado de Jalisco/Handout via Reuters 
 
 FORT WORTH, Texas Lawyers for the Texas teenager who killed four people in the "affluenza" drunken-driving case and was captured in Mexico said on Tuesday they are investigating whether the 18-year-old chose to flee or was forced. 
 
 Judge Timothy Menikos of Tarrant County juvenile court deferred a ruling on a move to transfer Ethan Couch's case to adult court because his parents were not adequately notified about the proceedings. 
 
 Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, 48, were captured in Puerto Vallarto, Mexico, last month after a manhunt of more than two weeks sparked by allegations the teen violated his probation in the 2013 drunken driving case. 
 
 "We are examining the facts ... to determine whether he was taken voluntarily or involuntarily to Mexico," attorney Scott Brown told reporters. 
 
 Couch, held in a Mexico immigration detention center, may soon return to Texas, Brown said, adding that his Mexican lawyers are making moves to drop his fight against deportation. 
 
 A Mexican migration official said Couch’s transfer to the United States is not imminent. 
 
 "First, (Couch’s lawyers) have to withdraw the legal challenge ... and even then it would take another month,” said Ricardo Vera, the top migration official in Mexico’s central Jalisco state where Couch’s legal case is being handled. 
 
 Tarrant County prosecutors contended Couch is responsible for his own absence by fleeing to Mexico. His mother was returned to Texas and faces a third-degree felony charge, accused of helping her son flee, that could result in a 10-year prison sentence if she is convicted. 
 
 The teen's parents are divorced, and his father was not present in court. 
 
 Couch was 16 when he was tried as a juvenile with a psychiatrist testifying the boy had "affluenza" and his family's wealth had left him so spoiled that it impaired his judgment to tell right from wrong. 
 
 The affluenza diagnosis, not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, was widely ridiculed. 
 
 A social media video emerged in December showing Couch at an alcohol-laden party. The party was likely a violation of the probation deal that kept him out of prison. 
 
 If Couch is found to have violated his probation, he could be held in adult detention for about four months. 
 
 Lawyers for Couch want the proceedings in Fort Worth stopped because he is not present. A new hearing date in the case was set for Feb. 19. 
 
 (Reporting by Marice Richter and Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Anahi Rama in Mexico; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Alden Bentley and Cynthia Osterman) ||||| FORT WORTH, Texas -- Lawyers for Ethan Couch said Tuesday the 18-year-old was dropping his fight against being sent home to Texas from Mexico. 
 
 Authorities allege that Couch and his mother fled to Mexico in December as prosecutors in Texas looked into whether he violated his probation stemming from a drunken-driving accident that killed four people. 
 
 The two were caught last month in Mexico, and Couch's mother was quickly deported. But the 18-year-old won a delay, based on a constitutional appeal that normally leads to a lengthy trial process. 
 
 Today, his lawyer in Texas said documents have been filed to lift the objections to Couch's return to the United States, but he didn't say how long the process would take. Officials in Mexico say they haven't seen anything indicating that Couch has agreed to drop his deportation fight. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, Brown said he was investigating whether the 18-year-old fled to Mexico or was taken against his will. 
 
 After a hearing in the case in Fort Worth, Brown said the question of whether his client "was voluntarily or involuntarily taken to Mexico is something that is still being investigated." 
 
 Lawyers for Couch's mother, who is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon, did not comment on the allegation. 
 
 Tuesday's juvenile court hearing was scheduled to determine whether Couch, who is being held in Mexico, violated his probation and if the case should be transferred to adult court. But the judge delayed the hearing shortly after it started, after Couch's attorneys said his parents weren't properly notified. The hearing was rescheduled for Feb. 19. 
 
 The drunken-driving case drew widespread derision after an expert called by Couch's lawyers argued he had been coddled into a sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called "affluenza." 
 
 Couch was 16 at the time and driving at three times the legal intoxication limit for adult drivers. Investigators said he rammed his pickup truck into a crowd of people trying to help a stranded motorist. The wreck killed four people and injured several others. 
 
 A juvenile court judge gave the teen 10 years' probation, outraging prosecutors who had called for him to face detention time. 
 
 Authorities apprehended Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, last month in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Tonya Couch was quickly deported and has been released on bond in Texas. The 48-year-old is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon. 
 
 Ethan Couch remains in a Mexico City detention facility. 
 
 Attorney General's office in Mexican state of Jalisco 
 
 Law enforcement officials say Tonya and Ethan fled to Mexico after a video surfaced that appeared to show the teen at a party drinking alcohol. If he was drinking, it would violate his probation and could lead to jail time. 
 
 Law enforcement officials believe the mother and son had a going away party shortly before driving across the border in her pickup truck, making their way to Puerto Vallarta. They were first tracked to a resort condominium after ordering pizza. They had moved on by the time authorities arrived, but a witness directed police to an apartment in Puerto Vallarta's old town. 
 
 When they were arrested, authorities said Ethan Couch appeared to have tried to disguise himself by dying his blond hair black and his beard brown. 
 
 According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Ethan Couch was "scared" after the video surfaced and did not respond to a Dec. 3 call from his probation officer to report for a drug test. He also did not appear for a scheduled meeting with the officer on Dec. 10. 
 
 A search warrant of bank and phone records found Tonya Couch had withdrawn $30,000 from a personal account and there was no other activity after Dec. 3. That day she also called her husband Fred Couch to say he would never see them again. 
 
 Authorities have previously said they had no evidence Fred Couch was involved in helping Tonya and Ethan Couch flee. ||||| Last updated at 3 p.m.: Revised to include more details from Tuesday’s hearing. 
 
 FORT WORTH — After weeks of fighting his return from Mexico, Ethan Couch may soon be headed home to Tarrant County. 
 
 Scott Brown, one of Couch’s attorneys here, said that the 18-year-old’s legal team in Mexico will no longer try and block his return to this country. 
 
 “They believe that he has been treated fairly by the Mexican government and all his rights are being protected,” Brown told reporters Tuesday after a court session on Couch’s case. “A document has been filed to release the injunction and let the process go forward.” 
 
 Couch, who is serving 10 years probation for killing four people in a 2013 DWI crash when he was 16, has been in the custody of Mexican authorities since late December when he and his mother, Tonya, were arrested there. Authorities say the two fled the U.S. in early December when Ethan Couch missed a meeting with his probation officer. 
 
 Judge Timothy Menikos, the Tarrant County juvenile court judge who is overseeing Couch’s case, was scheduled to hear arguments from prosecutors Tuesday morning about why the so-called “affluenza” teen’s case should be transferred to adult court. 
 
 But Menikos postponed the hearing after Couch’s attorneys contended that Couch wasn’t present in court — and should be — and that prosecutors didn’t formally notify his mom or dad of the hearing. 
 
 Prosecutors want to transfer Couch’s case to adult court by his 19th birthday in April, when the juvenile court would lose jurisdiction over him and he could be released from his sentence. 
 
 Tuesday they argued that Couch’s hearing could continue without him because he “voluntarily” left Tarrant County. 
 
 “He traveled apparently on his own to Mexico,” a prosecutor told the judge. “He is not present today but the state is ready to move forward.” 
 
 But the judge said that he was concerned that Couch’s parents, who are considered his guardians for the juvenile case, weren’t notified of the hearing. 
 
 Samantha Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney’s office, said her office had asked the probation department to inform Couch’s parents of this morning’s hearing, “but that apparently did not take place.” 
 
 The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19. Menikos said that Couch’s parents aren’t required to attend but must be notified about it. 
 
 Tonya Couch’s attorney, Stephanie Patten, said she isn’t sure if Tonya Couch, who is accused of helping her son flee the country, will have permission to attend his next court hearing. 
 
 Tonya Couch, 48, is currently free on bond after she was charged with hindering apprehension of a fugitive in connection with her son’s journey to Mexico. The judge handling her case placed several restrictions on her. 
 
 “Right now she’s restricted only to her home, to her lawyer’s office, to her court and any medical issues she might have,” Patten said. 
 
 Still a juvenile 
 
 Ethan Couch was still legally considered a juvenile when, authorities say, he missed a probation check-in last month. 
 
 The district attorney has said that despite Couch’s flight across the border, officials’ options for harsher penalties for him are limited because his case remains in the juvenile court system. 
 
 Experts have said Couch received a lenient sentence — time in rehab and 10 years probation — for the fatal crash because the juvenile system focuses on rehabilitation instead of punishment for offenses. 
 
 If his probation is transferred to the adult system, prosecutors say restrictions and penalties would be harsher should he violate its terms. 
 
 On Twitter: @naheedrajwani
– Is Ethan Couch throwing his mom under the bus? A lawyer for the "affluenza" teen has suggested that he may have traveled to Mexico against his will, meaning his mother, Tonya Couch, could have kidnapped him, reports CBS News. After a hearing in the case in Texas on Tuesday, attorney Scott Brown said the question of whether the 18-year-old "was voluntarily or involuntarily taken to Mexico is something that is still being investigated." Couch, who was on probation in Texas for killing four people while driving drunk, was found with his mother in Mexico last month, and she has been charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon. Tonya Couch was quickly deported to the US, where she was released on bail last week. Ethan is still in a Mexico City detention facility, and he could be there for a while: Brown says the teen's Mexican lawyers will stop fighting his deportation to the US, reports Reuters, though a Mexican immigration official says the challenge has yet to be withdrawn and it will be at least another month before Couch can be deported. In Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors had planned to argue that Couch's case should be moved to adult court, but it was postponed because Couch was absent and his parents hadn't been notified, reports the Dallas Morning News. (MADD has started a petition to move the case to adult court.)