Affluenza’ teen’s mother held in Tarrant County, seeks bail

Tonya Couch

Affluenza’ teen’s mother held in Tarrant County, seeks bail reduction to $15,000

FORT WORTH — The mother of “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch is finally in the custody of Tarrant County authorities, but she may not be there long.

Tonya Lynette Couch, 48, was booked into the Tarrant County jail Thursday afternoon on a third-degree felony charge of hindering apprehension of a felon after she was flown back to North Texas from Los Angeles. Soon after that, one of her attorneys, Stephanie Patten, filed a motion to have her $1 million bond reduced to $15,000, claiming that the “amount of bail set is unreasonable.” That figure is six times the recommended bail amount for a third-degree felony called for in Tarrant County’s Bond Schedule.

And the motion also says that Couch — who, along with her son, was the focus of an international manhunt after they fled to Mexico last month and he missed a meeting with his probation officer — “personally promises to appear at all court appearances hereon and to comply” with all conditions of her bail.

State District Judge Wayne Salvant could rule on the bail reduction motion Friday when he arraigns Couch in his Fort Worth courtroom. Or he could wait until a previously scheduled hearing set for Monday. If Salvant grants the motion, Tonya Couch could be released after paying $1,500 — 10 percent of the bail amount.

Continued at crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2016/01/ethan-couchs-mother-expected-to-be-flown-to-dfw-airport-this-afternoon.html/