A judge lowered her bail to $75,000 on Monday, and said she would have to wear an ankle bracelet and turn in her passport if released. The order includes assessing whether the mother of Ethan Couch is competent to stand trial for the charge of hindering apprehension of her son.
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Ethan Couch’s case drew national attention and derision when he sentenced to 10 years’ probation for a 2013 drunken driving wreck that killed four people and injured several others, including passengers in his pickup truck. She was brought back to Texas last week after being caught with 18-year-old Ethan Couch in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Vallarta.
Her son, Ethan, is in Mexico, where attorneys are fighting his transfer back to the United States.
According to Salvant, Patten missed the hearing because she was stuck in traffic, but she was able to meet briefly with Couch before she was returned to her jail cell.
District Judge Wayne Salvant reduced Couch’s bond after a lengthy hearing Monday afternoon.
“The nation has watched with anger and disdain as Couch continues to show blatant disregard for the law”.
A juvenile court judge gave the teen 10 years’ probation, outraging prosecutors who had called for him to face detention time.
A defense witness argued that Couch had been coddled by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called “affluenza”. She also claimed that suspects accused of more serious crimes do not receive a $1 million bond.
The Ft. Worth ABC affiliate just shared that Tonya Couch has now been offered bail at k, which is a great deal lower than the million dollar bail she was given on Friday.
Before she and her son fled to Mexico, she withdrew $30,000 from her account and told her husband that he would not see them again, an arrest affidavit stated.
The dog has not been seen since the mother-son duo were arrested in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on December 28.
It means that the court received information, at some point, that Couch may suffer from a mental illness. While the Couch issue might seem uncommon, MADD’s Jason Derscheid says it’s not.
He disappeared with his mother to Mexico after throwing a going-away party, only to be found following a two-week manhunt when police tracked down his phone while he ordered pizza.
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Tonya Couch, from Paris, Texas, was Fred’s second wife. The court filing, signed by Magistrate Matt King, says that there is “reasonable cause” to believe Couch “has a mental illness or is a person with a mental retardation”.
