The mother of a fugitive teen who used a so-called “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident waived her right to fight extradition back to Texas during a court appearance in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
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She will remain in custody until deputies from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department in Texas come to get her, said Officer Norma Eisenman, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman. Sam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, said in an email to The Post that officials were still waiting to hear specific details, but “generally expect” that she would be in Texas this week.
Couch and her son Ethan were arrested in Mexico shortly after disappearing from the Fort Worth area amid concerns over whether or not he may have violated his probation stemming from a deadly crash.
Her son was being held at a detention facility in Mexico City after winning a court reprieve that could lead to a weeks- or even months-long legal process in Mexico, according to a Mexican immigration official.
LOS ANGELES (CNN) – Tonya Couch, the mother of “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch, is set to be extradited to Texas from Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.
In an interview with CNN, Benitez said he is not sure what Couch wants to do just yet. She appeared for an extradition hearing in Los Angeles and agreed to be sent back to Texas.
Tonya Couch was later flown to Los Angeles.
Ethan is now being held at a migrant detention center in Mexico City. The prosecutor may ask that Tonya Couch be fitted with a Global Positioning System monitoring device if she bonds out.
She and her son were detained in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last week.
The judge remanded her without bail pending pickup by authorities from Texas, where she is wanted for aiding the flight of a wanted felon.
Tonya Couch’s attorneys released a statement saying she had done nothing illegal.
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Her attorneys say in a statement that Couch looks forward to returning to Texas as soon as possible to have her day in court. The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew ridicule.
