A judge reduced Tonya Couch’s $1 million bond to $75,000 after she appeared at a Fort Worth court Monday.
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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. Couch is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon – her 18-year-old son, Ethan Couch, who killed four people in a 2013 crash and was facing allegations that he violated his probation.
Ethan Couch’s mother Tonya Couch has already been returned to Texas, where she is jailed on charges as an accomplice in her son’s escape from the country.
A judge on Monday sharply reduced Tonya Couch’s bond from $1 million to $75,000.
Tonya Couch’s lawyers argued that she was indigent.
“We’re talking about a 3rd degree felony”.
Couch was arrested on December 28 in Mexico along with her son, who was wanted on a probation violation and extradited to the United States. During the trial a defense expert testified that Ethan suffered from affluenza – he had been coddled too much by his wealthy parents.
District Attorney Sharen Wilson previously said Tonya Couch is a proven flight risk.
Couch is not to change her address without alerting the court and must allow the Tarrant County probation department to visit her at home at any time.
Affluenza mom Tonya Couch was released from jail Tuesday morning after posting bond.
Ethan remains in an immigration detention center in Mexico City.
Law enforcement officials believe the mother and son had a going away party shortly before driving across the border in her pickup truck. Authorities say they were able to track them after the two ordered a pizza. They had moved on by the time authorities arrived, but a witness directed police to an apartment in Puerto Vallarta’s old town.
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the global advocate pushing for an end to drunk driving, has started an online petition lobbying the Texas judicial system and called on supporters to spread awareness using the #FightAffluenza hashtag.
