In re Hall

433 S.W.3d 203, 2014 WL 2420972, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5704
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 28, 2014
DocketNo. 14-14-00062-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 433 S.W.3d 203 (In re Hall) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Hall, 433 S.W.3d 203, 2014 WL 2420972, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5704 (Tex. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

TRACY CHRISTOPHER, Justice.

On January 23, 2014, relator Clifford Hall filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this Court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221; see also Tex.R.App. P. 52. In the petition, relator claims the underlying commitment order is void and requests that he be discharged from confinement. Pending review, this Court issued the writ and set bond. Relator posted bond and was released from custody. We grant re[206]*206lator’s petition for writ of habeas corpus, in part, striking the severable portion of the void order, and deny the remainder of relator’s petition, order his bond revoked, and remand him to the custody of the Harris County Sheriff.

I. Background

On July 25, 2012, the trial court orally rendered an order modifying a prior order that had required relator to pay $300 monthly child support. In the July 25, 2012 order, relator was ordered to pay $480 in regular monthly child support and $50 a month toward $1,800 he was ordered to pay in a prior judgment for a total monthly payment of $530. The trial court ordered the payments to be made through wage-withholding. The trial court signed the modification order on August 23, 2012.

Real party in interest, Donna Lane, filed a motion for enforcement by contempt on April 19, 2013, asserting that relator had not made payments due on August 1, 2012, October 1, 2012, November 1, 2012, January 1, 2013, February 1, 2013, March 1, 2013, and April 1, 2013. Donna alleged relator had only paid $1,496.91 of the $4,240 that was due and, therefore, owed $2,743.09. Donna further alleged several violations regarding possession of, and access to, the child. Relator was served with the motion for enforcement on April 30, 2013.

The motion was originally set for June 10, 2013. Between May 10, 2013, and June 6, 2013, relator made four direct payments, which he claimed cured the deficiency. But the payments did not bring him current. The motion was reset by agreement. Relator made another direct payment in October 17, 2013, which brought him current before the November 18, 2013 hearing on the motion for enforcement.

Although relator claimed at the hearing that the underpayments were caused by a system or clerical error on the part of his employer, the trial court found relator guilty of five separate counts of criminal contempt by failing to make child support payments on August 1, 2012, September 1, 2012, October 1, 2012, November 1, 2012, and December 1, 2012. The trial court further found relator in civil contempt for three violations related to possession of, and access to, the child by failing to surrender the child at the appointed time on one occasion and exercising possession twice when he did not have court ordered access. The trial court also awarded a money judgment for attorney’s fees and costs to Donna’s attorney in the amount of $3,716 as additional child support.

As punishment for the criminal contempt, the trial court ordered relator confined in the Harris County jail for 180 days for each of the five counts of contempt, sentences to run concurrently. As punishment for the civil contempt, the trial court ordered relator confined until he had paid $3,716 in attorney’s fees to Donna’s attorney.

In his petition, relator claims the commitment order is void because (1) the trial court found him in contempt for the September 1, 2012 support payment when he had actually paid more than the full amount; (2) it was based on an unsigned nunc pro tunc final order; (3) it states the wrong date of the hearing and the wrong court and does not direct the sheriff to take him into custody; (4) the motion for enforcement states the wrong trial court cause number; (5) the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) was not given notice of the hearing on the motion for enforcement; (6) relator did not willfully disobey the July 25, 2012 order; and (7) the repeal of Section 157.162(d) of the Texas Family Code — the “purging provision” — creates a procedural due process violation.

After relator filed his habeas corpus petition in this court, Donna filed a motion [207]*207for order nunc pro tunc in the trial court to correct certain clerical errors. On February 14, 2014, the trial court signed (1) an agreed order on motion for judgment nunc pro tunc; and (2) an agreed nunc pro tunc contempt order to reflect the correct date of the hearing and the correct trial court, which has continuing jurisdiction.

II. Standard of Review

The power to punish a party who fails or refuses to obey a prior court order or decree is an inherent power of a court and is an essential element of judicial independence and authority. Ex parte Barnett, 600 S.W.2d 252, 254 (Tex.1980) (orig. proceeding). A commitment order is subject to collateral attack in a habeas corpus proceeding. In re Henry, 154 S.W.3d 594, 596 (Tex.2005) (orig. proceeding) (per cu-riam). The purpose of the habeas corpus proceeding is not to determine the guilt or innocence of the relator, but only to determine whether he has been unlawfully restrained. Ex parte Gordon, 584 S.W.2d 686, 688 (Tex.1979) (orig. proceeding). A writ of habeas corpus will issue if the trial court’s contempt order is void, either because it is beyond the trial court’s power or because the relator has not been afforded due process. Henry, 154 S.W.3d at 596. It is presumed that the contempt order is valid. In re Turner, 111 S.W.3d 284, 288 (TexApp.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, orig. proceeding). In a habeas corpus action challenging confinement for contempt, the relator bears the burden of showing that the contempt order is void. In re Coppock, 211 S.W.3d 417, 418-19 (Tex.2009) (orig. proceeding).

III. Analysis

A. Striking the September 1, 2012 Violation Does Not Render the Entire Order Void

In his first issue, relator claims the commitment order is void because of a material discrepancy finding that relator had violated the July 25, 2012 order for failing to make a full payment on September 1, 2012, when he had paid more than his child support obligation. Relator argues the discrepancy is material and renders the commitment order void in its entirety.

In her motion for enforcement, Donna did not allege that relator had violated the July 25, 2012 order by failing to make a payment on September 1, 2012. In this mandamus proceeding, Donna states the September 1, 2012 violation should be stricken from the commitment order, leaving the remaining violations found by the trial court intact.

If one punishment is assessed for more than one act of contempt, and one act is not punishable by contempt, the entire judgment is void. Henry, 154 S.W.3d at 598; In re Gabbai, 968 S.W.2d 929, 931 (Tex.1998) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam). However, where the trial court lists each failure separately and assesses a separate punishment for each failure, only the invalid portion is void; the invalid portion may be severed, and the valid portion retained. Ex parte Linder, 783 S.W.2d 754, 758 (TexApp.-Dallas 1990, orig. proceeding); see also Ex parte Russell, 875 S.W.2d 467, 470 n. 7 (TexApp.-Austin 1994, orig.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
433 S.W.3d 203, 2014 WL 2420972, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 5704, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hall-texapp-2014.