Lyons v. State

835 S.W.2d 715, 1992 WL 137414
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 4, 1992
Docket6-91-059-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 835 S.W.2d 715 (Lyons v. State) 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
Lyons v. State, 835 S.W.2d 715, 1992 WL 137414 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

[717]*717OPINION

CORNELIUS, Chief Justice.

Billy Joe Lyons appeals his conviction for criminal nonsupport. This cause was consolidated and tried with two other causes involving similar offenses. Appeals in the other cases are currently pending before this Court.

Lyons raises six points on appeal, urging that the trial court erred in denying his motions to dismiss and to quash the information, in refusing to submit a requested special charge to the jury, and in denying a request for a directed verdict. He also contends that the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence.

Lyons was divorced from Cynthia Marie Lyons on February 17, 1988. The divorce decree ordered Lyons to pay support for Daphyne Nichole Lyons, the minor child of the marriage, in the amount of $288.00 per month. Lyons failed to make any of the monthly payments required by the court order. He was charged with violation of Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 25.05 (Vernon 1989).1 Among other things, the evidence showed that Lyons failed to make any payment on February 1, 1989, March 1, 1989, and April 1, 1989. The jury found Lyons guilty of each offense and assessed punishment at one year in the county jail, probated for two years, in each cause, the sentences to run concurrently. The instant case is concerned only with the charge of nonsupport on March 1, 1989.

Lyons first argues that the information was based on an incorrect theory of law and that, because the court refused to grant his motion to dismiss the information, he was denied due process and equal protection and was ordered imprisoned for debt. He also urges that, because the information failed to define the word “support,” the court erred in denying his motion to quash.

The information charges in relevant part that, on February 1, 1989, Billy Joe Lyons intentionally and knowingly “failed to provide support for his child, Daphyne Nichole Lyons, who is subject of a court order requiring support from said Billy Joe Lyons.” The applicable statute provides that an individual commits an offense if he “intentionally or knowingly fails to provide support for his child younger than 18 years of age, or for his child who is the subject of a court order requiring the individual to support the child.” Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 25.05(a) (emphasis added). Thus, the information closely tracks the statute.

Lyons contends he was tried under an incorrect interpretation of the law because he was convicted for failure to pay specifically ordered amounts of child support, whereas the statute only criminalizes failure to “support” a child who is the subject of a child support order. We disagree. The information charged Lyons with failing to “support” his child. The jury charge required the jury to find that Lyons failed “to support” his child, who was the subject of a court order. The evidence is sufficient to support a finding that he failed to support his child on the dates alleged. Lyons was not charged with [718]*718or found guilty of failing to pay a specific amount of court-ordered support.

Lyons complains that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash the information because it did not define the term “support.” He correctly states that Section 25.05 does not define “support,” and the term is not defined elsewhere in the Penal Code.

The State points out that before its amendment in 1987, Section 25.05(c) defined insufficient support to mean support less than that needed by a child or spouse to meet the minimal requirements of the child or spouse necessary for food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. The Legislature removed that definition in a 1987 amendment to Section 25.05. The information in the instant case tracks the words of the present Section 25.05. Except in rare exceptions, an indictment that tracks the words of the statute is sufficient. See Marrs v. State, 647 S.W.2d 286, 289 (Tex. Crim.App.1983). The information appears sufficient to charge the commission of the offense in ordinary and concise language in such a manner as to enable a person of common understanding to know what is meant and with a degree of certainty that would give the defendant notice of the particular offense with which he is charged and enable the court, on conviction, to pronounce the proper judgment. That is all that is required. See Tex.Code CRIM.PROC. Ann. art. 21.11 (Vernon 1989). What constitutes “support” is evidentiary, and it is therefore not essential for notice to the accused that the definition be included in the information.

Lyons argues that he was deprived of equal protection in violation of U.S. Const, amend. XIV and Tex. Const. art. 1, §§ 3, 3a, because the law, as applied in this case, required him to give preference to the legitimate child of his marriage to Cynthia Marie Lyons to the detriment of his three other minor children born out of wedlock to him and three other women. Section 25.05 does not establish a preference. By its plain language, the statute obligates Lyons to support any child of his, including a child born out of wedlock. A divorce court is not prohibited from ordering support for a child just because there are other children not before the court.

Lyons argues that he was providing some support to his illegitimate children and that he did not comply with the court’s order to support Daphyne Nichole because he decided that the other children needed his support more than she did. Contrary to Lyons’ contentions, the trial court imposed no disabilities on the illegitimate children. There is no indication that Lyons has ever requested the trial court having jurisdiction over the suit involving the child support to reassess the amount of the support order for Daphyne in light of the needs of the other children to whom he owes support.

Lyons also urges that his conviction constitutes an impermissible imprisonment for debt. We disagree. Imprisonment assessed as punishment for the violation of a statute or court order is not imprisonment for debt, even if the statute or court order has the effect of requiring a payment of money. Tex. Const, art. I, § 18 commentary, citing Ex parte Robertson, 27 Tex.App. 628, 11 S.W. 669 (1889); Dixon v. State, 2 Tex. 481 (1847); see also Freeland v. Free-land, 313 S.W.2d 943 (Tex.Civ.App. — Dallas 1958, no writ), holding that a child support order does not create a debt within Tex. Const, art. I, § 18.

Next, Lyons argues that the trial court erred by refusing to submit his requested jury charge that would have imposed upon the State a duty to prove Lyons’ inability to support his child, as was required by Section 25.05 prior to its amendment in 1987.

The ability to pay child support is no longer an element of the offense under Section 25.05(a), although it was an element in an earlier version of the statute.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Glenn Edward Champagne v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2012
Craig Richard Woods v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2006
Clayton Dwayne Williams v. State of Texas
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002
Williams v. State
71 S.W.3d 862 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2002)
Leroy H. Jones v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999
Belcher v. State
962 S.W.2d 653 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Hollis Glen Belcher Jr. v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998
Ex Parte Wagner
905 S.W.2d 799 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Wisenbaker v. State
860 S.W.2d 681 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Houston Madison Wisenbaker v. State
Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993
Lyons v. State
835 S.W.2d 715 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
835 S.W.2d 715, 1992 WL 137414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lyons-v-state-texapp-1992.