--- title: Mother of 'Affluenza' Teen Appears in Texas Court description: Judge sets her bail at $1 million. canonical: https://time.com/4172941/affluenza-teen-mom-tonya-couch-court/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-08T17:00:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T13:54:35.163Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Mother of 'Affluenza' Teen Appears in Texas Court og:description: Judge set her bail at $1 million og:url: https://time.com/4172941/affluenza-teen-mom-tonya-couch-court/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145b06f6b80d9c7c/698878325f570fba58b1f18b/gettyimages-503884026.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Tonya Couch arrives at Tarrant County Jail og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mother of 'Affluenza' Teen Appears in Texas Court twitter:description: Judge set her bail at $1 million twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145b06f6b80d9c7c/698878325f570fba58b1f18b/gettyimages-503884026.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mother of 'Affluenza' Teen Appears in Texas Court by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 8, 2016 5:00 PM CUT  Returning to Texas from Los Angeles, Tonya Couch, mother of "affluenza" Ethan Couch, arrives escorted by sheriff's deputies at the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Returning to Texas from Los Angeles, Tonya Couch, mother of "affluenza" Ethan Couch, arrives escorted by sheriff's deputies at the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.Fort Worth Star-Telegram—TNS via Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 8, 2016 5:00 PM CUT The mother of the teenager who used an “affluenza” defense when he killed four people in a drunk driving accident [made her first appearance in Texas court](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-affluenza-teens-mom-set-arraignment-36158268 "undefined") Friday, where she was charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon. Tonya Couch appeared Friday before a Judge Wayne Salvant in a Tarrant County courtroom, according to the Associated Press. Her bond was set at $1 million, which her attorney has requested be reduced. Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told reporters at a news conference that Couch had complained about the conditions of her jail cell, to which he responded by saying it “is a jail, not a resort.” Couch and her 18-year-old son Ethan were [arrested in Mexico](http://time.com/4164878/affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-tonya-deported-mexico/ "undefined") in late December after fleeing Texas during an investigation into whether he had violated his probation. Ethan remains in custody in Mexico, while his mother was deported and sent to Los Angeles, then to Texas. \[[AP](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-affluenza-teens-mom-set-arraignment-36158268 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4172941/affluenza-teen-mom-tonya-couch-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4172941/affluenza-teen-mom-tonya-couch-court/"},"headline":"Mother of 'Affluenza' Teen Appears in Texas Court","datePublished":"2016-01-08T17:00:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:54:35.163Z","description":"Judge set her bail at $1 million","url":"https://time.com/4172941/affluenza-teen-mom-tonya-couch-court/","keywords":["Texas","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145b06f6b80d9c7c/698878325f570fba58b1f18b/gettyimages-503884026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt145b06f6b80d9c7c/698878325f570fba58b1f18b/gettyimages-503884026.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tonya Couch arrives at Tarrant County Jail","caption":"Tonya Couch arrives at Tarrant County Jail","creditText":"Fort Worth Star-Telegram—TNS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4172941/affluenza-teen-mom-tonya-couch-court/","name":"Mother of 'Affluenza' Teen Appears in Texas Court"}}]}] ```