Tonya Couch was in bond court today, where a judge lowered her bond from $1 million to $75,000.
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Tarrant County prosecutors drew a line between the Couches’ apparent disrespect for the conditions of Ethan’s probation – he got 10 years’ worth for killing four people – and the potential that Tonya Couch would skip bail, and Salvant expressed concern that Couch’s passport, which her attorneys have said was lost during her stint in California, was missing.
She has been ordered to reside with another son, Stephen McWilliams, and must submit to electronic monitoring, weekly check-ins with a probation officer, and drug testing.
After reducing the bail amount, Salvant said that if Couch is released from jail, she will remain under electronic surveillance.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson tweeted Monday night that “barring any unseen delays she will be released tomorrow morning after getting monitor”.
Weeks before they were arrested in Mexico on December 28, he with an attempted disguise of dyed hair and beard, Ms. Couch had pulled $30,000 from a bank account and told his father, from whom she is divorced, that he would never see them again, according to her arrest warrant.
During Ethan’s sentencing, a psychologist hired by his defense team coined the term “affluenza”, which he used to describe Ethan’s irresponsible lifestyle associated with his affluent upbringing.
Judge Wayne Salvant issues his ruling at Tonya Couch’s bond reduction hearing Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in court in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tonya Couch was arraigned Friday in a Fort Worth court. Tonya Couch was said to have been required to pay for her son’s tab at a strip club when the “affluenza” teen was brought home by the club’s managers late one evening.
He said that his mother’s bank account, which contains about $100,000, has been frozen by authorities. Her bail was set at $1 million after she was returned from Mexico to the United States. If Ethan Couch also was drinking, it would violate his probation and could lead to jail time. “Affluenza” is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association.
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The mother of a fugitive teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck has been released from a Texas jail.
