Judge Does Not Revoke Bond Of 'Affluenza' Mom Tonya Couch
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Tonya Couch, the mother of 'affluenza' teen Ethan Couch, was in a North Texas courtroom this morning.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office was asking Judge Wayne Salvant to revoke Couch's bond and send her back to jail because they alleged she had violated the terms of her bond by drinking alcohol and possessing a firearm.
The manager of a Fort Worth bar and grill testified that she saw Couch take a sip of alcohol and a Johnson County Commissioner testified that he saw Couch handle a rifle at last weekend's Fort Worth Gun Show.
Noting that Couch had no prior bond violations, Judge Salvant denied the district attorney's office's request, but he did admonish the 50-year-old woman -- telling her that the "eyes of Texas" are on her and that she needs to use better judgement. The judge also amended Couch's bond conditions to now mandate that she can no longer even be in possession of alcohol, let alone consume it.
Couch is facing charges for hindering apprehension and money laundering after she and her son fled to Mexico in late 2015.
Ethan Couch is in the second year of a two-year jail term as condition of his adult probation for killing four people as he drove drunk in 2013 when he was 16.
