Salvant asked her if she understood the charges brought against her and explained some of the details of the complaint, including that she intended “to hinder the arrest, detention, adjudication or disposition of a child, Ethan Couch”. She did not enter a plea because her attorney was not present for the arraignment. At that time, he will consider reducing the bond amount, which was set at $1 million.
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If she is released on bond, whether it’s $1 million or the lower sum, he told her she will have to follow a number of conditions, which would include wearing an ankle monitor and turning in her passport.
Tonya Couch appears in court in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.
Anderson said Couch told him that she couldn’t sleep well because the jail lights were too bright and other inmates were watching her.
She confirmed that she has hired a lawyer. Anderson says he told her, “it’s jail, not a resort”.
The mother’s return to Texas is the latest twist in a controversial case that drew national attention.
Authorities believe Couch and her 18-year-old son, Ethan Couch, fled Texas in November as prosecutors investigated whether Ethan Couch had violated his probation. Instead of jail time, the lenient judge, who tried Couch as a juvenile, gave the teen a probationary sentence. His probation makes it clear he can not drink alcohol.
In a brief news conference with reporters after the hearing, Patten took a jab at Anderson for how involved he has been in the case.
Tonya Couch is taken by authorities to a waiting auto after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, in Los Angeles. This week a judge there approved her extradition to Texas.
Her attorney, Stephanie Patten, filed documents Thursday asking the court to reduce Couch’s bail to $15,000 cash or surety.
According to a court witness, Tonya Couch will remain in jail until Monday, when another hearing will take place. Last week a Mexican judge granted the teen a temporary stay halting deportation proceedings.
Couch, was returned to Texas on Thursday from California to face the charge. As for Ethan, he said, “it’s not a question of if he’s coming back, it’s a question of when he’s coming back”.
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He nor his mother had any cash to pay the remainder of the bill so he gave the waiter his Rolex watch as a guarantee that he would repay his $345 debt the next day, ABC News reported.
