Affluenza teen’s mom to be extradited back to Texas

Tonya Couch (left), mother of the Texas teenager derided for his “affluenza” defence in a deadly drunken-driving case, appears in court for her extradition hearing in Los Angeles, California, today.

Tonya Couch appeared Tuesday for an extradition hearing in Los Angeles, where she was flown last week after being deported from Mexico.

Tonya Couch, 38, faces a felony charge in Texas of hindering apprehension of a felon for allegedly helping her 18-year-old son flee the country while out on probation.

A guard closes the gate at the entrance gate of the Agujas immigration detention center, where US fugitive Ethan Couch is being detained, in Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2016.

CBS just broke the news that Tonya Couch is due in a Texas court on Tuesday. She’ll ask for a reduction in her client’s million-dollar bond. Her attorney said the timing of her return is now up to Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson, although it may take until Wednesday to complete all the paperwork in California.

Down in Texas, Ethan Couch is being represented by hotshot lawyer Fernando Benitez, who is questioning the legality of the United States seeking the return of Couch to Texas.

If convicted of the hindering charge, she could face two to 10 years in prison.

Kevin McConnell, whose son Lucas was among the injured, says this latest incident makes it impossible to move on.

Ethan remains about 1,800 miles away in a migrant detention center in the Iztapalapa borough of Mexico City.

According to ABC News sources, Tonya Couch has been kept in solitary confinement for her own protection in a small room with a steel bed and no TV. He was sentenced to rehab and probation after a defense expert argued in juvenile court that he suffered from “affluenza”, an inability to tell right from wrong because of his wealthy upbringing. The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew ridicule. He grabbed national headlines after a judge sentenced him to probation instead of jail time, “slamming his now-notorious “affluenza” defense – that he was too rich and spoiled to understand the consequences of his actions”, the report says. But in November, he fled to Mexico with his mother after video surfaced of him at a beer pong party, an apparent violation of his probation.