Tarrant County, Texas, Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday that he will dispatch deputies to California to bring back Tonya Couch after some “administrative matters” are cleared up.
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Couch’s fugitive son, Ethan Couch, 18, is fighting extradition to the United States from Mexico. Her teenage son, Ethan, first made headlines following a 2013 drunken-driving incident in Texas, which killed four people.
The mother of “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch appeared in court today in California after being detained by Mexican authorities.
Meanwhile, Couch’s mother is still being held in a Los Angeles jail without bail, after Mexican officials deported her last week for staying in the country illegally.
Couch was convicted on four counts of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years of drink- and drug-free probation, which critics saw as leniency because of his family’s wealth.
Benitez says he was hired to represent Couch in Mexico, but doesn’t say who hired him.
Couch and her son were arrested December 28 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in connection with his alleged probation violation stemming from a deadly drunken- driving crash in Texas.
Tonya Couch was forced to pay the remainder of Ethan’s two tabs for strippers and booze.
“While the public may not like what she did, may not agree with what she did, or may have strong feelings against what she did, make no mistake – Tonya did not violate any law of the State of Texas and she is eager to have her day in court”, lawyers Stephanie K. Patten and Steve Gordon said.
Tonya Couch attends an extradition hearing at the Los Angeles Superior Court, in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016.
Benitez said the appeal centers on why Mexico tried to use a deportation proceeding instead of the longer extradition process in Ethan’s case.
During the sentencing phase of his trial, a defense expert argued that Ethan’s wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility – a condition the expert termed “affluenza”.
The diagnosis is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association and was widely ridiculed. In video obtained by CNN, Couch can be seen in handcuffs with us marshals at Los Angeles International Airport on her return from Mexico.
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“Laws are there to protect everybody, not just the people we like”, said Couch’s high-profile Mexican attorney, Fernando Benitez.
