Extremists are plotting more attacks. The socalled affluenza mom who escaped with her spoiled son to mex, now trying to get out of jail herself. Her Court Hearing set to start right now. So let get to it. Breaking news. The mother of the socalled affluenza teen is due in court at any moment now. A live look at the courtroom in fort worth, texas, tonya couch accuse of helping her son escape to mexico. After video of him playing peer pong in 2014 he killed four people while driving drunk. A judge didnt send him to prison because the defense claim said he was so spoiled and didnt know right from wrong and had a bad case of affluenza. The judge bought. The teenager in a Detention Center in mexico but mom is back in texas, facing charges for helping her fugitive son. When she does go before the judge at any moment, were expecting her defense team to argue for a big reduction in bond, right now, its set at 1 million. As we reported here, tonya couch doesnt like her jail cell one bit. The sheriff says he has had to tell her, its a jail, not a resort. Cops busted ethan couch with his mom in the mexican resort town, not before a strip Club Employee followed him to his moms room so she could pay his twogrand bill. He ran out of cash. Casey is lying at the cruise in texas. What next . Reporter we expect a couple of Different Things at this hearing. First of all, tonya couch is expected to enter a plea. She was unable to do so at her arraignment on friday because her attorney was not present. Remember, she got stuck in traffic on the way to court that morning. The lawyer for tonya couch said her client will plead, however, not guilty. She is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon, which carries a prison sentence up to ten years behind bars if she is convicted. Today we also expect that the judge will consider this reduction in bail. Tonya couchs attorney is seeking something around 15,000 instead of the 1 million, according to court paperwork, but if and win she does make bail, depending on what happens today there will be restrictions. The judge talked about that at her arraignment. She would have to do things like surrender her passport and wear one of those gps ankle monitors if she leaves jail. The judge addressing the court now. Lets listen. All right. And miss couch is here also. 8s÷ who is going to open for the state . Well wave opening. Well, miss gordon. Thank you, your honor. I filed an application for writ of habeas corpus on behalf of tonya couch. We raised two issues on the application for writ of habeas corpus. One is the issue of probable cause. She support the arrest warrant and whether there were false statements made in the arrest warrant affidavit that was the basis of the arrest warrant issued in the case. We have conferred with the state and we will we are not waiving that issue. However, we will just be objecting to the second issue in the application for writ and that is the amount of the bond set. Very well. And at this time, we call we would ask that our witnesses that we have subpoenaed be sworn. Where are your witnesses. We have anderson, ursula thomas,. Come up here. Come on up. Is this it . No, theres a woman who is coming in. Oh, okay. Come on up, maam. All three raise your right hand and ill swear you in. Solemnly swear the tim you give will be at the truth, whole truth, and nothing bit the truth so help you god. I do. Give your full name. [inaudible] you . Steven james. All right and now . [inaudible] who is your first witness. Steven mcwilliams and at this time i would also the rules you have to remain outside until youre called in to testify. Wait, maam. Dont leave yet, either. Remember, this is about how much bail the affluenza mom will have to pay. They set it at a million bucks. There are reports he wants it as low as 25,000 buck, the same mom who paid the 2,000 strip club bill for the tide who shouldnt have been in mexico. So do you lower the bail, leave it where it is, and will tonya couch, the mom, speak. Lets listen. [inaudible conversations]o all right, im waiting for one more. While were doing this, lets bring in while were waiting lets gripping in arthur aidala. One question here is whether they enhad a right to arrest this rom. Thats basically what the defense attorney just said. She wants to questions the i assume the Law Enforcement investigators about what probable cause they had to even arrest her before they get to whether or not the bail should be set at all. Obviously the judge found they didnt have a right to arrest her, then she walks without any bail. Theres a matter of flight risk, isnt she . He already wellflighted. If they dont have probable cause to arrest her, theres not enough evidence. This is what we would call a fishinged and digs. The defense attorney is using the bail issue to find out as much as she can about her case before her case starts. Its a smart move by the defense attorney. Listen. All right. Thank you, your honor. You have stated your name. State your name again. Steven mcwilliams. I have some questions. If you dont understand what im saying or asking, let me know. Yes. Do you know top ya couch . Yes, die. How do you know her. She is my mother. How old are you . 29. Where do what county do you live . Atparent county. Who do you with. My wife and two kids. Your wife is how old . 2. Now, were here today asking for a one thing were asking for, for your mom, is bond to be reduced. You understand that . Yes, maam. Are you aware of what the bond is currently set at . Yes. What is that . One million. One Million Dollars . Yes. Is there any way that your mom could be able to post 1 million bond . No. Are you aware of any prior convictions that your mother has . No. And is it your plan, if her bond was lowered and she was able to post the bond, she would go and live with you . Yes. And that would be in terrant county. Ell, at the people that live in your home, anyone with criminal convictions . No. Are you aware of your moms financial situation . Yes, i am. Its your understanding is your mom married . Married but theyre separated. And she is married bit separate from him. Fred couch. Who ills not your father . No, he is not. Stepfather. And they have been married and divorced in the past. Is that correct . Yes. Does your mom own any Real Property and. No. Does she have any personal property that youre aware of . No. Now, let talk about bank accounts. Your mom did have a bank account. Yes, maam. And you were given a power of attorney to [inaudible] uhhuh. And that was before, lets say, december of 2015. Yes. Have you recently tried to access her bank account . Yes. Are you able to make any withdrawals from the bank account. No, im not. What is your understanding of the status of the bank account. Theres a court order and a large hold on the account. When you tried to access the account, youre not allowed to access it. No. What are you told. Nobody knows. Its locked up and they dont know who did it or when they did it or why. Said there was a court order. Is that correct . Yes. And so, either you or tonya or anyone else is able to access her account. No. Are you aware of any cash she would have if she cannot access her bank account . No. Is it your understanding that any property that she has in her possession when she went to california, is no longer in her possession. They cant find it. So, are you aware of any cash she can access to post a bond. No. Theres no cash. No property that she can sell to post bond. No property. So, i guess youre not going to be charging her rent if she moves in with you, are you . No. At the time that well, let me retract. Back in december of 2015, are you aware of any court order, ordering her to be in any court at that [inaudible] well, there we go the signal is coming in and out. You can see the photographers had to move from one window to another to get a clean shot of the guy. Now he is giving us while we watch the pictures, listen to the feed. Are you aware of her ever violating any bond conditions . No. The vehicle that is alleged that she owned, a truck, do you have you heard that . Yes. Is that truck ed it belong to her or someone else. Belonged to somebody else. Did not belong to her. No. Does she own any vehicles. No. Does she have title to any vehicles. No. Is it your understanding that the freeze put on her account is by the feed dropped out again. Its a digital feed and sometime wes hear it, sometimed wont, listen again. Are you requesting her bond be lowered so she can be bonded out of jail. Yes, i am. And at this point, say, even if the bondsman charges 10 of a 150,000 bond does she have access to 15,000 . No. Do you have access to that . No. Would you be able to post 150,000 bond . No, i wouldnt. I pass the witness. Thank you, judge. Mr. Mcwilliams. Lets see. How much money is in that account if she were to have access. Last time i saw it was negative 99 billion. Im sorry . It was negative 99 billion, if you pull up her account. Negative 99 billion . Yes. Okay. How much money were you expecting to be in at that time account before you discovered there was a hold on it . I had no expectancy. Didnt know how much she had in there thats why i got the power of attorney. If that account was not frozen there was approximately 100,000 cash in that account. I wouldnt be surprised. Where would that money have come from. From my house. The sale of the house . Yes. Now, your mother is separated but she is still legally married. Correct . Yes. Still legally married to man named fred couch. Is that correct . Yes. And french couch is not debt constitute,ed he. I dont understand. He has plenty of money. Never seen his bank account. Ever see his house. I have. 7,000 square foot house. Roughly. Owner of a sheet metal yes. Rmmz does he have. Interest in a Sheet Metal Company in mexico and el paso. Not that im aware of. Does he own lots of vehicles . Yes. In short, fred couch is a man is a wealthy man. He has some money, yes. Is that a yes . Yes. All right. And they are still legally married. Correct . Yes. Married but separated. Ever been divorced. I have once, yes. Did you lose anything ina 1nt divorce . Fred . No, you. No, i have not. This is a Community Property state. I understand. And your mother would have ownership interest in soming toos from the marriage. Yes. You expect her to come out of the divorce with property and cash. You would expect, yes. You say that your mother does not have any of the property that she had with her when she went to california . Did i get that question correct. Yes. Is it your understanding your mother went to california . From when she was brought back from mexico to l. A. She left from here and went to mexico. Correct . As far as im aware. That where she was arrested. Yes. And she was arrested in the company of ethan couch. Yes. And ethan couch is who to you. My half brother. Half brother. Ethan couch, at the time that you its your understanding also that your mother traveled to mexico with ethan couch . I dont know. I saw them there together on the news. Thats all i know. You dont have any idea how they came to be in mexico together . No. I have no recollection. Do you understand the fact that your mother is one of the people who is supposed to be helping ethan stay in line, keep up with his probation . Yes. You understand that. That a yes, correct . As a parent, yes. Im sorry. When you nod i have to make sure she has to take it 0 down. Gotcha. And probation, judge or adult probation, has as part of it a lot of conditions that the judge ordered. You understand that . Yes. In that way, its a lot like a bond. Bond conditions are a whole lot like probation conditions. You understand that . Yes. Things like dont drink. Did your mary mother keep alcohol in her house. No. Never . Not since the he came out on probation, no. You dont know anything about lots of drinking that went on in your mothers house i object, your honor. I thought the purpose of this hearing was to determine whether the bond is too high. Cause of her arrest warrant affidavit, we can do that i thought we were just limited the bond amount. Have anything to do with the merit of the case against tonya couch. This has to do with her ability testified to comply with bond conditions and its the states position that she not only was aware of i can prove she was aware of the probation conditions of ethan couch and she knowingly disregarded them and that goes directly to are there are other ways to deal with this. Arthur aidala is here. In this particular state you do this differently. Yes in new york, the tristate area, you just just the lawyers who make all these points to the judge. Sometime usow have some evidence. Heres the bank account. She doesnt have access. Then the prosecutor says, but her husband does. Look at this article on him in the wall street journal. So they do have access to money, and basically the lawyers keep themselves in check. The judge listens and then right on the spot the judge makes a decision. The only time you do this actually is after the judge sets bail, if the judge or the prosecutor wants to know where is the money coming from to pay the bill, clean money or dirty money . Money from a robbery or someones hardearned money. Sounds leak the husband has a bunch of sheet metal. And trucks. And trucks. A lot of trucks. Work trucks. So, this is all about, really, the affluenza mom, will the mom, who helped the son get down to mexico, to while the kid was on probation will the bond be reduced from 1 million to 25,000 . It will be. Ill be surprised if he doesnt. I read accounts that its accurate, its six times more than the average bond on a class c level three felon y, which is a lower level felony in the state of texas. Of course, judge gave this kid at the time certainly a kid by any standard just probation after he killed four people while drinking and driving because he was too rich to know better. Thats the defense. Thats what the judge bought. So, now, well, well find out as the Court Hearing continues. Maybe well hear from the mom. That is coming up right after this. Soft, calm music hi, youve reached emma. Im out of the office right now but will get back to you just as soon as i possibly can. Your call is important to me. Join Princess Cruises for exclusive discovery at sea experiences. Limited caribbean fares from 549. Call your travel consultant or 1800princess. Princess cruises. Come back new. Joining her daughters yoga class. Ng about she was thinking about her joints. But now that shes taking osteo biflex, shes noticing a real difference in her joint comfort. With continued use, it supports increased flexibility over time. Karen shes single. It also supports wonderfully high levels of humiliation in her daughter. Karen shes a little bit shy. In just 7 days, your joint comfort can be your kids discomfort. Osteo biflex. You were made to move. So move. You owned your car you named it brad. S, you loved brad. 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A truck that is the property of the company that is opened by fred couch, correct . Yes. But they were separated at the time she was driving around in that truck. Right . Yes. Do you know who has been footing the bill so far for her legal representation . Me so far, for every little built little bit i could. Nobody else youre aware of. Nobody else. That all i have. Anything . Since well bring up attorney fees, have you paid us anything. Nothing. S to tonya paid is anything. Nothing. Are you aware of anyone paying us anything. No. Nothing further. I have a few questions. You mentioned to the lawyers that your mother had no property, no Real Property. Is that correct . Yes sir you said her bank account was locked out. Yes. Do you know which government. No. Nobody could give me information. Do you have any knowledge whether your mother has any stocks. She does not, as far as im aware. Bonds . Not that im aware of. What about annuities. Not that im aware of. Inheritance . No,. So your testimony is there ising in. Theres nothing. The truck she drove to mexico belonged to, i guess, mr. Couch. The company. All right. Tell me about you live where . Right off 35 in fort worth. Still in the county. Its terrant. Right on the line. And do you know if your mother has any Community Ties to this area . If they are, what are they . You havent told me that yet. I dont understand what your saying. She is a part of this community. Yes. S to she have friends here . Does she have friends here. Well, yes and not. Not in the county. Does she have any other relatives here. Not in the county. Are you the only relative. In terrant. Where are the other locates. One in johnson and the rest in another city. All right do you know whether your mother goes to church here . Not that she used to but i dont know where, if its in the county. You told me she does not work. No. Is that correct. No. Can she work if she is on bond. She could she has to renew her license as far as i know. Brings up another question. If she was placed on bond, since she does not own a vehicle, at this time, how would she get around . Well, wed have to get her a vehicle. Would you be willing to do that . I have two vehicles. I could lend her one until we can somehow get her something. Because if she was on bond, she would have to make appearances before the probation department. You understand that. Yes, sir. Thats all i have. Any other questions. She has another daughter. Yes. She has three children. Correct . Yes. Its you, who live here, and christi lives in Johnson County, correct . Correct. Her current husband, soon to be exhusband, lives in Johnson County . No. I think itste rrant county. Her parents live in paris, texas . Yes. When yaw did you mean theyre in Johnson County . No. Theyre they may be in terrant. Its north of whatever county that is. [inaudible] contiguous counties. Yes. And the license that she has that youre aware of, he lbn, is a license in texas . I believe so. To work in texas. Yes. I believe so. As far as i know. Is