Texas judge lowers bond for mother of 'affluenza' teen to $75,000
By Marice Richter
FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas judge on Monday slashed the bond for a mother charged with helping her teenage son flee to Mexico while he was on probation for killing four people in a drunken driving crash.
Lawyers for Tonya Couch, 48, said she could not afford the bail set at $1 million and argued it was excessively high for a person charged with a third degree felony.
If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison for the case where critics have accused the family of using its wealth to thwart justice and the teen was derided for using a defense of "affluenza."
A psychiatrist testifying on his behalf at the 2013 trial in juvenile court contended his family's wealth had left him so spoiled that it impaired his judgment to tell right from wrong.
The affluenza diagnosis, which is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, was widely ridiculed.
On Monday, Judge Wayne Salvant cut Tonya Couch's bond to $75,000. He also imposed conditions on a release on bond that include being placed on an electronic monitor, drug testing and reporting weekly to authorities.
In arguing that the bail should remain at $1 million, Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Rousseau said, "She has shown she is willing to violate his probation and is willing to do so in a big way."
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told reporters after the hearing there was a possibility she could run again.
"Hopefully, the judge's restrictions will prevent that," he said.
Ethan Couch is in an immigration detention facility in Mexico and fighting deportation back to the United States.
Stephanie Patten, an attorney for the mother, said her bank account had been frozen and she could not access enough money to pay the bond.
Tonya Couch and her son left Texas after a video surfaced on social media in early December showing Ethan at an alcohol-fueled party, in likely violation of his probation deal.
A day after the video was seen on the Internet, she withdrew $30,000 from the bank and informed her estranged husband, who owns a metal works business, that he would never see his son again, an arrest affidavit said.
Mother and son drove in a pickup truck to Puerto Vallarta, where they were caught by Mexican authorities after a manhunt lasting more than two weeks.
(Reporting by Marice Richter; Writing by David Bailey and Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Sandra Maler)
