The mother “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch is set to be arraigned in Tarrant County Friday morning on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon.
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Sheriff Anderson, who accompanied deputies as they took her from the airport to jail Thursday, described the mother as “cooperative, polite (and) appreciative of the way she’d been treated so far”.
Tonya Couch is due in court again on Monday for a second hearing on possible bail reduction.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson spoke with Couch.
Couch, was returned to Texas on Thursday from California to face the charge.
Family members of those who were killed or injured in the crash caused by Ethan Couch were also in court this morning to see Tonya Couch in her less-than-stylish yellow jumpsuit.
In our collective 40 plus years of practicing criminal law here in Tarrant County, both as prosecutors or defense attorneys, we have never witnessed an elected official take such a personal interest and escort a suspect. She flew to Los Angeles with the help of some U.S. Marshals on New Year’s Eve and agreed not to fight returning to Texas on Tuesday.
Prior to being caught by authorities, Couch and his mother Tonya went to a strip club in Puerto Vallarta called Harem on the evening of December 23, where employees said he partied the night away.
The mother and son were arrested in Mexico late last month.
“It’s kind of weird but it doesn’t bother me”, he said, while waiting outside the courtroom with his sister and a slew of news reporters.
Ethan Couch is still in Mexico; when he returns to the United States depends in large part on whether he decides to contest his deportation. 7, 2016 photo provided by the Tarrant County, Texas jail, shows Tonya Couch.
Patten later issued a statement criticizing the public manner in which Anderson has handled the case and questioning why he spoke to Couch in court without her attorney present.
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The teen pleaded guilty in juvenile court to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation. The diagnosis, which is not recognised by the American Psychiatric Association, was widely ridiculed.
