‘Affluenza’ teen’s mom appears in Texas court

The mother of “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch was flown Thursday from Los Angeles to Texas, where she is facing a felony charge for allegedly helping her 18-year-old son flee to Mexico while he was on probation in a case stemming from a deadly drunken driving crash.

Couch insists she has done nothing wrong, despite being found in Puerto Villarta with Ethan Couch, who ran after violating probation in the manslaughter deaths of four people and the injury of more after drunk and drugged driving.

His defense had successfully argued for leniency, claiming the teen’s family wealth and poor parental relationships left him with no sense of responsibility. The Dallas Morning News added that Patten’s filed motion stated Couch “personally promises to appear at all court appearances hereon and to comply” with all conditions of her bail. Couch, who is being held on a $1 million bond, has not spoken about the incident.

Tonya Couch was housed in a maximum security cell by herself Thursday night at the Lon Evans Correctional Facility, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said.

Judge Wayne F. Salvant asked her name and marital status. “I think we’ve been assured that it’s not a question of if he’s coming back, it’s a question of when he’s coming back”.

Tonya Couch is seen in a booking photo from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Previously, Breitbart Texas reported that Couch’s legal counsel released a statement insisting Couch broke no laws in Texas. Couch’s attorney has requested a bond reduction and Salvant indicated that request may be addressed at a hearing on Monday.

She was transported from Mexico to California by U.S. Marshals last week.

Tonya Couch was arraigned Friday in a Fort Worth court. Instead of jail time, the lenient judge, who tried Couch as a juvenile, gave the teen a probationary sentence. When he heard on Thursday that Tonya Couch had returned to Tarrant County, he was certain their hearings – his for aggravated assault of a public servant – would take place the same day. They’d been gone for nearly a month, having ditched North Texas following discovery of a video that apparently showed Ethan Couch playing beer pong on Twitter and a missed probation appointment.