FORT WORTH – Despite the attempts of Tonya Couch’s attorney to show that her most recent failed drug test may have been faulty and that it was processed by a company not accredited at the time by the state of Texas, a judge has ruled that Couch will remain in jail pending trial.
Couch has failed two drugs tests since her 2015 arrest for hindering prosecution and money laundering for escaping with her son Ethan Couch to Mexico. The infamous “affluenza” teen pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter for the drunk driving deaths of four people and was given just 10 years probation and rehab.
But the saga for Tonya Couch has continued, as she’s had her bond revoked twice and been jailed twice for failed drug tests.
In June, just three weeks after being released from her previous bond violation, she failed a court-ordered urinalysis, testing positive for methamphetamine and was sent back to jail for violating conditions of her $75,000 bond. Her defense ordered its own hair follicle test by a different lab which they the court came back negative for methamphetamine.
To refute claims by the defense that the original drug testing lab, AdverHealth in St. Louis, Missouri – which processed Couch’s urine test was not properly accredited by the state of Texas at the time – late in the afternoon the prosecution received a letter from the Texas Forensic Sciences Commission that the lab in question is indeed in compliance from April 13, 2018 – through April 2020.
The bond hearing, which included teleconference interviews of witnesses from the drug-testing lab in St. Louis to testify to the accuracy of their testing methods, lasted nearly four hours.
In making his decision, Tarrant County Judge Wayne Salvant said: “all I want Ms. Couch to do is follow rules and regulations and it seems like she doesn’t want to do it. And that’s my biggest concern with her. I’m sick and tired of going back and forth with Ms Couch that she doesn’t want to follow the rules and regulations. I’ve told her the eyes of Texas are upon her.”
“I’ve been trying to bend over backwards for Ms. Couch. I’ve been trying to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Couch shook her head in disgust as the judge made his decision. He says he would not release Couch Monday but would reconsider if he got assurance she can stay away from drugs.
Tonya Couch’s trial is set for November 12.