In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________
No. 02-25-00076-CV ___________________________
SAM OSAMA MOHAMAD MAHASNEH, Appellant
V.
TALA DALGAMOUNI MAHASNEH, Appellee
On Appeal from the 325th District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 325-759985-24
Before Birdwell, Bassel, and Walker, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Walker MEMORANDUM OPINION
I. INTRODUCTION
Appellant Sam Osama Mohamad Mahasneh (S.M.) appeals a thirty-year
protective order granted against him, protecting his ex-wife, Appellee Tala Dalgamouni
Mahasneh (T.M.), and protecting members of her family and household. See Tex. Code
Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.003; Tex. Fam. Code. Ann. § 85.022. S.M. raises five issues
challenging the order, none of which rise to the level of error. However, S.M. also
raises one issue challenging the award of attorney’s fees. Because the evidence
supporting the amount of the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees was insufficient, we
will reverse and remand on that issue only.
II. BACKGROUND
S.M. and T.M. were married in 2000. They had four children, each of whom is
now an adult;1 only the youngest still lived at home with T.M. at times relevant to this
appeal.
S.M. and T.M. separated in 2014 and then reunited in 2015. In 2016, S.M. was
arrested for assaulting T.M. and causing injury by biting her arm, a Class A
1 The youngest child’s eighteenth birthday was in the month following the 2025 protective order hearing.
2 misdemeanor. Later that year, S.M. was also indicted for the offense of violating a
protective order more than once within 12 months.2
S.M. and T.M. separated again in 2017 and T.M. filed for divorce. At the
beginning of the divorce proceeding, the court granted a protective order with an
expiration date in March 2020, intended to encompass the entire proceeding. Among
other restrictions, the protective order prohibited S.M. from communicating with T.M.
in any manner except through text message or a court-ordered messaging application
and only when necessary regarding the health and wellbeing of their children.
S.M. left seven voicemails3 for T.M. between December 2018 and March 2019.
The voicemails came from a phone number that S.M. had used during that time. The
voicemails largely contain ambient sound including some speaking voices that T.M.
identified as including S.M.’s voice.4 None of the voicemails contain any mention of
the children or their health or wellbeing.
In 2018, S.M. pleaded guilty to both of his pending criminal offenses from 2016.
He was placed on twelve months’ deferred adjudication probation for assault and on
2 The record does not contain indictments or judgments related to these two offenses. 3 At the 2025 hearing, T.M. introduced 15 voicemail recordings from Appellant in two groups that were recorded in 2018 and 2019 and in 2024. All 15 of the voicemail recordings were admitted without objection. 4 At trial, T.M. testified that she identified S.M.’s voice in the voicemail recordings. He did not object to this testimony.
3 six years’ deferred adjudication probation for violating a protective order more than
once.5
In 2019, the divorce was finalized. Later that year, S.M. completed his probation
for assault. In 2024, S.M. completed his probation for violating a protective order.
Also in 2024, T.M. reported to the police that S.M. was stalking her. T.M. alleged
that S.M. drove by her work and home repeatedly, placed a GPS tracking device in her
car, left her eight voicemails between August 31 and October 9, 2024,6 and went to their
youngest child’s school to demand visitation. At the time, S.M. was living in his car.
He used a gym in a shopping center that shared T.M.’s workplace’s parking lot.7
S.M. was criminally charged with stalking, and in October 2024, a Tarrant County
magistrate granted T.M. an order of emergency protection that prohibited S.M. from
During his testimony at the 2025 protective order hearing, S.M. asserted his 5
Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked if he had received probation for the assault charge. In a civil case, a factfinder may draw negative inferences from a party’s invocation of the Fifth-Amendment privilege against self- incrimination. Tex. R. Evid. 513(a), (c); Wilz v. Flournoy, 228 S.W.3d 674, 677 (Tex. 2007).
Of the eight voicemails left in 2024, two contained only ambient sound and six 6
were lengthy messages apologizing to T.M. and asking for reunification or to see the children. In one of the calls, S.M. said he was responding to a return call from T.M.’s phone.
At the protective order hearing, S.M. asserted his Fifth-Amendment privilege 7
when asked whether a person at T.M.’s apartment building could see the parking lot of her workplace and whether S.M. had been arrested for a stalking offense while he was in that parking lot.
4 going near T.M.’s home, place of employment, or place of business.8 As a condition of
S.M.’s bond release, he was prohibited from communicating with T.M. and members
of her household. That bond condition—and the pendency of the criminal charge—
both preceded and persisted beyond the 2025 protective order hearing date.
In November 2024, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office, on T.M.’s
behalf, applied for a protective order against S.M. The application alleged that family
violence, violation of a protective order, and stalking had occurred and sought a
protective order under Title 4 of the Texas Family Code and Chapter 7B of the Texas
Code of Criminal Procedure. The trial court granted T.M. a temporary ex parte
protective order, citing the Code of Criminal Procedure as authority.9 S.M. answered
with a general denial and pleaded the affirmative defenses of laches and res judicata. In
February 2025, the trial court held a final evidentiary hearing where three witnesses
testified: T.M., S.M., and T.M.’s attorney as expert on attorney’s fees.
After the parties presented their closing arguments, the trial court found
reasonable grounds to believe that T.M. had been a victim of stalking and that S.M. had
previously violated a protective order. The court found that S.M. represented a credible
threat to the physical safety of T.M. or other members of T.M.’s family or household
and acknowledged that S.M.’s 2024 stalking case was ongoing. The court granted a 30-
8 See Tex. Code. Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 17.292. 9 See id. 7B.002, 7B.006.
5 year protective order10 against S.M., stating, “[T]hat will get y’all through the duration
of [S.M.’s] life.” The trial court also granted $2,250 in attorney’s fees to T.M. The
written order that the trial court rendered contained findings that family violence had
previously occurred,11 that S.M. had violated a protective order by committing an act
prohibited by the order as provided in Section 85.022 of the Texas Family Code, that
reasonable grounds existed to find that T.M. was the victim of stalking, and that the
order should be entered pursuant to Article 7B.003. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann.
art. 7B.003; Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 85.022.
III. DISCUSSION
On appeal, S.M. argues six issues: two alleging due process violations and four
alleging insufficient evidence.
A. DUE PROCESS
S.M. argues that his due process rights were violated because the protective order
did not include a finding by clear-and-convincing evidence of good cause to prohibit
communication between S.M. and his children and that his due process rights were
violated when the court granted the order under Chapter 7B of the Code of Criminal
Procedure “without proper notice in the pleadings.”
The protective order expires in February 2055. 10
The trial court struck a proposed finding in the order stating that S.M. had 11
committed family violence necessitating a protective order under Chapter 85 of the Texas Family Code.
6 1. Prohibition as to Communication with Children
In arguing that the protective order deprived him of his right to parent, S.M. first
argues that the trial court’s order does not contain the required findings to grant a
protective order under Chapter 85 of the Texas Family Code.
Whether S.M. is correct is immaterial, because the trial court did make the
required findings to grant an order under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure,
Chapter 7B. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.003; see Noyes v. State for Voges,
No. 03-22-00071-CV, 2023 WL 8102025, at *5–6 (Tex. App.—Austin Nov. 22, 2023,
pet. filed) (holding that statutory finding of felony offense under Family Code is not
required under Chapter 7B); see also Garza v. Renteria, No. 14-24-00079-CV, 2025 WL
2413260, at *3 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Aug. 21, 2025, no pet.) (recognizing
that, although allegations may satisfy both, protective-order findings under the two
codes are distinct). The trial court found that T.M. was a victim of the criminal offense
of stalking under the Penal Code, Section 42.072. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. arts.
7B.001(a)(1), 7B.003; Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.072. The trial court entered the
protective order “pursuant to Article 7B.003” and found that S.M. “represents a
credible threat to the physical safety of [T.M.] or other members of the family or
household.” The order thus contains the findings of good cause required under the
Code of Criminal Procedure. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.003; Garza,
2025 WL 2413260, at *3.
7 S.M. then argues, citing Stary v. Etheridge, that the order violated his due process
right to parent his children because the trial court, in issuing a protective order that
prohibits contact between him and his children, failed to make required findings by
clear and convincing evidence. [AntBr 5–6/PDF 14–15] See 712 S.W.3d 584, 594–96
(Tex. 2025); Tex Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.002; Tex. Fam. Code Ann. §§ 85.001,
85.022.
Although Stary reversed a court’s protective order that prohibited all
communication between a parent and her minor children for more than two years—
because it implicated the fundamental right to parent and had not been issued on clear
and convincing evidence—the Texas Supreme Court did not expressly extend its
holding to protective orders implicating contact with adult children, nor did it rely on
reasoning related or applicable to parental relationships with adult children. See Stary,
712 S.W.3d at 596; see also Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 101.003(a) (defining a child under
the Family Code as “a person under 18 years of age who is not and has not been married
or who has not had the disabilities of minority removed for general purposes”),
§ 101.025 (defining a parent–child relationship as “the legal relationship between a child
and the child's parents”). Although S.M. states that the higher standard of review
should apply here, he has provided no authority supporting an argument that a Chapter
7B protective order cannot properly include adult children within its scope of protected
persons. See, K.B. v. E.B., No. 02-24-00481-CV, 2025 WL 2264196, at *7 (Tex. App.—
Fort Worth Aug. 7, 2025, pet. denied) (mem. op.).
8 As an initial matter, S.M. did not raise this issue in the trial court, so he failed to
preserve the issue for appellate review. See Tex. R. App. P. 33.1 (To preserve a
complaint for appellate review, “the record must show that . . . the complaint was made
to the trial court by a timely request, objection, or motion[.]”); In re L.M.I., 119 S.W.3d
707, 710–11 (Tex. 2003) (affirming trial court’s termination order where parent failed
to preserve a due-process claim on appeal); Dreyer v. Greene, 871 S.W.2d 697, 698 (Tex.
1993) (“As a rule, a claim, including a constitutional claim, must have been asserted in
the trial court in order to be raised on appeal.”); In re R.J.K., No. 05-24-00099-CV,
2025 WL 2723277, at *7 (Tex. App.—Dallas Sept. 24, 2025, no pet.); cf. Stary,
712 S.W.3d at 588 (recognizing actions taken to place the issue before the trial court).
Regardless, S.M.’s due process arguments fail on the merits.
Domestic violence protective orders should be the least intrusive means to
accomplish the measures of protection needed. Stary, 712 S.W.3d at 587. The reasoning
in Stary for extending the heightened standard to protective orders with a duration
longer than two years is to preserve “the right to enjoy a natural family unit,” because
it is “no less important than the right to liberty.” Id. at 594 (quoting In re G.M.,
596 S.W.2d 846, 847 (Tex. 1980)). Like parental terminations, “protective orders that
prohibit contact [between a parent and child] for over two years ‘break the ties between
a parent and child.’” Id. at 592 (quoting Wiley v. Spratlan, 543 S.W.2d 349, 352 (Tex.
1976)).
9 This is not the first time the question of extending Stary to include adult children
has come before our court. See K.B., 2025 WL 2264196, at *3. In K.B., we declined to
extend Stary’s reasoning to require a clear-and-convincing-evidence finding to issue a
protective order prohibiting contact between a parent and her adult children for more
than two years. Id. As in K.B., we decline again to extend the reasoning to S.M.’s three
older children who were not minors. However, unlike the family in K.B., the youngest
child in this case was 17 years old for one month of the term of the challenged 30-year
protective order.
The protective order did prohibit contact between S.M. and a minor child, but
not for a period exceeding two years. The holding in Stary was limited to orders that
prohibited contact between a parent and child for longer than two years, reasoning that
a prohibition of that duration would break the ties between parent and child. Stary,
712 S.W.3d at 592. The court declined to comment on the implications of orders lasting
less than two years. Id. at 595 n.60.
Further, S.M. was already prohibited from contacting his youngest child by the
conditions of the bond on his stalking charge. The court’s protective order in this case
did not prohibit S.M. from contacting any minor child whom he was legally permitted
to contact while the child was a minor or from exercising any right to physical custody
of his children that he could exercise. We decline to extend Stary to require a heightened
evidentiary standard for issuance of an order prohibiting contact for a single month
10 while contact was otherwise prohibited or an order prohibiting contact between parents
and adult children for more than two years. See id.; K.B., 2025 WL 2264196, at *3.
We overrule this issue.
2. Notice as to Pleadings
S.M. argues that the application for protective order did not provide sufficient
notice that he was accused of behavior constituting stalking and that the application
sought a protective order under Chapter 7B.
During the 2025 protective order hearing, when S.M. was asked about his 2024
stalking arrest, his attorney objected twice to relevance based on the pleadings.
In the first objection, S.M.’s attorney argued that “[c]ounsel has not pled for a
protective order based on stalking. The only ground[] today is about a violation of a
protective order.” The trial court overruled the objection.
In the second objection, shortly thereafter, S.M.’s counsel again argued that T.M.
had not alleged stalking as a ground for the protective order. In response to the
objection, her attorney read portions of the application for protective order into the
record. The court also overruled the second objection.
Proceedings under Chapter 7B are “undisputedly civil matters.” Goldstein v.
Sabatino, 690 S.W.3d 287, 291 (Tex. 2024). The Rules of Civil Procedure require that a
pleading contain “a short statement of the cause of action sufficient to give fair notice
of the claim involved.” Tex. R. Civ. P. 47(a). Fair notice means that the pleadings must
be “specific enough that an opposing attorney, of reasonable competence, with the
11 pleadings before him, can ascertain the nature of the basic issues of the controversy and
the testimony probably relevant.” Wright v. Fowler, 991 S.W.2d 343, 353 (Tex. App.—
Fort Worth 1999, no pet.); see Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp. v. Auld, 34 S.W.3d 887, 896
(Tex. 2000). The pleadings must provide fair notice of the claim and the relief sought
such that the opposing party can prepare a defense. In re Lipsky, 460 S.W.3d 579, 590
(Tex. 2015) (orig. proceeding). Even the omission of an element is not fatal if the cause
of action may be reasonably inferred from what is specifically stated. Id. (citing Boyles v.
Kerr, 855 S.W.2d 593, 601 (Tex. 1993)).
A request for a protective order related to a charge of stalking is made by filing
an application in the same manner as required under Title 4 of the Family Code. Tex.
Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.051. A pleading should give the respondent notice that
a protective order may issue if the court finds that probable cause exists to believe that
a stalking offense occurred and that the person to be restrained is likely in the future to
engage in prohibited stalking conduct under Texas Penal Code Section 42.072(a). Id.
art. 7B.003; Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.072(a)(1), (2), (3). A person commits the
offense of stalking if he, on more than one occasion and pursuant to a scheme or course
of conduct directed at a specific other person, knowingly engages in conduct that:
(1) constitutes an offense under Texas Penal Code § 42.07, or that the actor knows or reasonably should know the other person will regard as threatening: (A) bodily injury or death for the other person; or (B) that an offense will be committed against:
12 (i) a member of the other person’s family or household; (ii) an individual with whom the other person has a dating relationship; or (iii) the other person’s property; (2) causes the other person, a member of the other person’s family or household, or an individual with whom the other person has a dating relationship: (A) to be placed in fear of bodily injury or death or in fear that an offense will be committed against the other person, a member of the other person’s family or household, or an individual with whom the other person has a dating relationship, or the other person’s property; or (B) to feel harassed, terrified, intimidated, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended; and (3) would cause a reasonable person under circumstances similar to the circumstances of the other person to: (A) fear bodily injury or death for the person; (B) fear that an offense would be committed against a member of the person’s family or household or an individual with whom the person has a dating relationship; (C) fear that an offense will be committed against the person’s property; or (D) feel harassed, terrified, intimidated, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended. Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.072(a); see id. § 42.07(a) (setting out elements of offense of
harassment).
T.M.’s application for a protective order states in its first paragraph that the
action is brought under “Title 4, Texas Family Code and Chapter 7B, Texas Code of
13 Criminal Procedure.” The application alleges grounds including family violence,
violation of a protective order, and stalking. The application includes a request that
S.M. be prohibited from communicating a threat to T.M. or a member of her household
and from engaging in conduct, including following T.M., “that is reasonably likely to
harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass” T.M. or a member of her
household. Further, the application incorporates T.M.’s supporting affidavit. The
affidavit alleges that S.M. “has engaged in conduct which constitutes family violence
and stalking.”
Therefore, the application was sufficient to give S.M. fair notice that T.M. sought
a protective order under Chapter 7B for grounds including stalking, and it sufficiently
laid out allegations of conduct amounting to stalking. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann.
art. 7B.052; Martinez v. Martinez, 52 S.W.3d 429, 433 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2001, pet.
denied).12 Accordingly, we overrule this issue.
12 S.M. couches this issue as an abuse of discretion, but provides no argument for this contention or appropriate citation to authority. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(i). However, because the trial court did not violate due process, it did not abuse its discretion by issuing the protective order. See e.g., Telegina v. Nechayuk, No. 09-22-00383- CV, 2024 WL 5080262, at *11 (Tex. App.—Beaumont Dec. 12, 2024), supplemented, No. 09-22-00383-CV, 2025 WL 52479 (Tex. App.—Beaumont Jan. 9, 2025, no pet.) (holding trial court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that recognition of foreign wedding did not violate party’s due process rights); Thornton v. Tex. Dep't of Protective & Regulatory Services, No. 03-01-00317-CV, 2002 WL 246408, at *2 (Tex. App.—Austin Feb. 22, 2002, pet. denied) (holding the court did not abuse its discretion because its decision not to appoint counsel did not violate due process).
14 B. EVIDENTIARY SUFFICIENCY
S.M. argues in his remaining issues that insufficient evidence supported (1) the
trial court’s findings that he violated a prior protective order, that a more-than-two-year
duration was appropriate for the protective order, and that T.M. was the victim of
stalking; and (2) the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees and calculation of that amount.
1. Standard of Review
In a trial to the court in which no findings of fact or conclusions of law are filed,
the trial court’s judgment implies all findings of fact necessary to support it. Shields Ltd.
P’ship v. Bradberry, 526 S.W.3d 471, 480 (Tex. 2017). When a reporter’s record is filed,
these implied findings are not conclusive, and an appellant may challenge them by
raising issues challenging the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the
judgment. Id. We apply the same standard when reviewing the sufficiency of the
evidence to support implied findings that we use to review the evidentiary sufficiency
of jury findings or a trial court’s express findings of fact. Id. We must affirm the
judgment if we can uphold it on any legal theory supported by the record. Rosemond v.
Al-Lahiq, 331 S.W.3d 764, 766–67 (Tex. 2011).
We may sustain a legal-sufficiency challenge—that is, a no-evidence challenge—
only when (1) the record bears no evidence of a vital fact, (2) the rules of law or of
evidence bar the court from giving weight to the only evidence offered to prove a vital
fact, (3) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more than a mere scintilla, or
(4) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of a vital fact. Gunn v. McCoy,
15 554 S.W.3d 645, 658 (Tex. 2018). In determining whether legally sufficient evidence
supports the challenged finding, we must consider evidence favorable to the finding if
a reasonable factfinder could, and we must disregard contrary evidence unless a
reasonable factfinder could not. Cent. Ready Mix Concrete Co. v. Islas, 228 S.W.3d 649,
651 (Tex. 2007); City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 827 (Tex. 2005). We indulge
“every reasonable inference deducible from the evidence” in support of the challenged
finding. Gunn, 554 S.W.3d at 658 (quoting Bustamante v. Ponte, 529 S.W.3d 447, 456
(Tex. 2017)).
Anything more than a scintilla of evidence is legally sufficient to support a
finding. Marathon Corp. v. Pitzner, 106 S.W.3d 724, 727–28 (Tex. 2003). More than a
scintilla exists if the evidence rises to a level that would enable reasonable and fair-
minded people to differ in their conclusions. Gunn, 554 S.W.3d at 658. On the other
hand, no more than a scintilla exists when the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is
so weak that it creates no more than a mere surmise or suspicion of its existence.
McAllen Hosps., L.P. v. Lopez, 576 S.W.3d 389, 397 (Tex. 2019); Kindred v. Con/Chem, Inc.,
650 S.W.2d 61, 63 (Tex. 1983).
When reviewing an assertion that the evidence is factually insufficient to support
a finding, we set aside the finding only if, after considering and weighing all the pertinent
record evidence, we determine that the credible evidence supporting the finding is so
weak, or so contrary to the overwhelming weight of all the evidence, that the finding
should be set aside and a new trial ordered. Golden Eagle Archery, Inc. v. Jackson,
16 116 S.W.3d 757, 770–76 (Tex. 2003) (citing Pool v. Ford Motor Co., 715 S.W.2d 629, 635
(Tex. 1986) (op. on reh’g)); Cain v. Bain, 709 S.W.2d 175, 176 (Tex. 1986); Garza v.
Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex. 1965).
Factual-insufficiency issues depend on which party has the burden of proof at
trial. See Gooch v. Am. Sling Co., 902 S.W.2d 181, 184 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1995, no
writ). Accordingly, when the party without the burden of proof on a fact issue
complains of an adverse fact finding, that party must show that “insufficient evidence”
supports the finding; that is, that the credible evidence supporting the finding is too
weak or that the finding is against the great weight and preponderance of contrary
credible evidence. Id.; see Garza, 395 S.W.2d at 823.
Findings of fact are the exclusive province of the factfinder. Bellefonte Underwriters
Ins. v. Brown, 704 S.W.2d 742, 744 (Tex. 1986). A court of appeals cannot make original
findings of fact; it can only “unfind” facts. Tex. Nat’l Bank v. Karnes, 717 S.W.2d 901,
903 (Tex. 1986). When conducting a factual-sufficiency review, a court of appeals must
not merely substitute its judgment for that of the factfinder. Golden Eagle Archery,
116 S.W.3d at 761. The factfinder is the sole judge of the witnesses’ credibility and the
weight to be given to their testimony. Id.
If the court of appeals sustains an issue because the evidence is factually
insufficient, it must reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand for a new trial. Glover
v. Tex. Gen. Indem. Co., 619 S.W.2d 400, 401–02 (Tex. 1981) (per curiam) (refusing writ
n.r.e.). This court has no jurisdiction to render judgment based on an
17 insufficient-evidence or great-weight-and-preponderance issue. Wright Way Spraying
Serv. v. Butler, 690 S.W.2d 897, 898 (Tex. 1985); see In re King’s Est., 244 S.W.2d 660, 662
(Tex. 1951).
2. Violation of Prior Protective Order
S.M. argues that insufficient evidence supported the trial court’s finding that he
violated a prior protective order. In the “findings” section of the protective order, the
trial court found that S.M. had violated a protective order by committing an act
prohibited by the order, that the order was in effect at the time of the violation, and
that the order expired after the date the violation occurred. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann.
§ 85.022.
S.M. argues that T.M. introduced no evidence to show that he committed a
prohibited act because the voicemails introduced at trial were not prohibited
communications under the order. For this proposition, S.M. argues that the 2018
protective order allowed communication between the parties “regarding their shared
children.” However, this argument mischaracterizes the prohibition in the 2018
protective order and the contents of the voicemails.
The 2018 protective order allowed communication only through text messages
or court-ordered text-messaging applications and only as required for the health and
wellbeing of the children. The voicemails were not text messages, nor were they sent
by the court-approved text messaging application specified in the order. The voicemails
were not related to the health and wellbeing of the children—or related to them at all,
18 despite S.M.’s contentions to the contrary—as they contained only recordings of
ambient sound and S.M.’s voice, not cohesive messages. The voicemails were thus not
permitted communications under the 2018 order.
S.M. also argues that the voicemails from his telephone number were
unintelligible to the point that “no factfinder could [have] conclude[d] that they were
identifiable as any one person.” S.M. here asks us to substitute our judgment for that
of the court as factfinder and to reassess the weight to be given the evidence. See Golden
Eagle Archery, 116 S.W.3d at 761. T.M. testified that she was familiar with S.M.’s voice
and that she recognized his voice in the ambient sound in the 2018 recordings. Further,
no evidence introduced at trial contradicted her testimony. We decline to second-guess
the judgment of the trial court in weighing this evidence. See Shields Ltd. P’ship,
526 S.W.3d at 480.
Considering only the evidence supporting the trial court’s order, more than a
scintilla of evidence supported the trial court’s finding that S.M. had previously violated
a protective order. We hold that the evidence supporting the finding was legally
sufficient.
Further, considering and weighing all the pertinent record evidence, the evidence
supporting the trial court’s finding that S.M. violated a previous protective order was
largely uncontroverted and so was not against the great weight and preponderance of
the evidence. See Gooch, 902 S.W.2d at 184. We hold that the evidence supporting the
finding was also factually sufficient.
19 We overrule this issue.
3. The Duration of the Order
S.M. next argues that the trial court did not make required findings under
Section 85.001 of the Texas Family Code to justify granting a protective order with a
duration of more than two years and that the evidence was likewise legally and factually
insufficient to justify that duration under the Family Code. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann.
§ 85.001(d).13
As already discussed, this argument is immaterial because the trial court did make
the required findings under Article 7B.003, under which it issued the protective order.
See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.003. A protective order issued under Article
7B.003 may be effective for the duration of the lives of the offender and victim or for
any shorter period stated in the order. Id. art. 7B.007. Further, under Article 7B.003,
the court need only make a finding that reasonable grounds exist to believe that the
applicant was the victim of one of a number of offenses, including stalking. Id. arts.
7B.001(a)(1), 7B.003. The protective order here includes an affirmative finding that
If a court issues a protective order under Section 85.001 that is effective for a 13
period that exceeds two years, the court must also make an affirmative finding that the person who is the subject of the order committed an act constituting a felony offense involving family violence against the applicant or a member of the applicant’s household, caused serious bodily injury to the applicant or a member of the applicant’s household, or had been the subject of two previous protective orders rendered after a finding of family violence. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. §§ 85.001(d), 85.025(a). The order issued by the trial court did not expressly include those findings.
20 T.M. was the victim of stalking and that S.M. represents a credible threat to her physical
safety and the physical safety of other members of her family or household. See id. art.
7B.003; Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.072(b); Baker v. Bizzle, 687 S.W.3d 285, 291–92 (Tex.
2024). The court thus made the required affirmative findings to have granted an order
for the lifetime of the parties or any shorter period under Article 7B.003. Tex. Code
Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.003(b)
S.M. does not challenge the trial court’s Chapter 7B findings so we do not
address them. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(i), 47.1; NexPoint Advisors, L.P. v. United Dev.
Funding IV, 674 S.W.3d 437, 446–47 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2023, pet. denied)
(holding that “wholly inadequate” briefing does not present an adequate appellate
issue); Huey v. Huey, 200 S.W.3d 851, 854 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006 no pet.) (“Failure to
cite applicable authority or provide substantive analysis waives an issue on appeal.”).
We therefore overrule this issue.
4. Stalking
S.M. next argues that insufficient evidence supports the trial court’s finding that
T.M. was a victim of stalking.
Under Chapter 7B, the trial court must issue a protective order if it finds
reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant has been a victim of stalking. Tex.
Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 7B.003(b); Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.07.
The record contains sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s finding that
S.M. committed the offense of stalking against T.M. T.M. had made clear to S.M. that
21 she did not wish to be contacted and had filed charges of stalking against him. He had
been convicted of criminal offenses against her of felony assault and violation of a
previous protective order more than once within a period of twelve months. The
temporary ex parte protective order signed on November 15, 2024, included a finding
that a clear and present danger of stalking—among other harms—existed.
T.M.’s affidavit and her testimony at the hearing both indicated that S.M. had
followed her to their child’s school, her apartment, and her workplace; that he drove
past T.M. as she drove between her work and home; and that he drove and parked in
the area of her apartment and work multiple times. T.M. also testified that S.M. placed
a GPS tracking device inside her vehicle.
S.M. invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when asked whether he had been
released on bond after an arrest for the criminal offense of stalking and whether he was
then the subject of a magistrate’s order for emergency protection that prohibited him
from contacting T.M.
A reasonable factfinder could have found that more than a scintilla of evidence
established that S.M. committed the offense of stalking. See Tex. Penal Code Ann.
§ 42.07(a)(7), (9); 47.072; In re R.J.K., No. 05-24-00099-CV, 2025 WL 2723277, at *9
(Tex. App.—Dallas Sept. 24, 2025, no pet. h.) (holding that husband’s putting a tracking
device on wife’s car was sufficient to support a stalking finding); see also Allen v. State,
218 S.W.3d 905, 907–08 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2007, no pet.) (holding that
defendant’s continuing contact with victim after divorce and issuance of protective
22 orders for domestic violence constituted a scheme or course of conduct under
Section 42.072). Therefore, the evidence was legally sufficient to support the trial
court’s finding.
Challenging the factual sufficiency, S.M. argues that, because one of the
voicemails he left for T.M. was in response to a telephone call made from her phone,
he could not have known that she would regard his presence or several attempts to
contact her as causing any degree of fear, apprehension, or harassment.
However, considering and weighing all the pertinent record evidence, almost all
of which was uncontroverted, the evidence supporting the trial court’s finding that S.M.
committed the offense of stalking was not against the great weight and preponderance
of the evidence and so was factually sufficient. See Gooch, 902 S.W.2d at 184; Citizens
Nat'l Bank v. Allen Rae Investments, Inc., 142 S.W.3d 459, 485 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth
2004, no pet.).
5. Attorney’s Fees
S.M. next argues that legally and factually insufficient evidence supports the trial
court’s determination of the amount of attorney’s fees awarded to T.M.14
T.M. argues that S.M.’s issue should be dismissed as insufficiently briefed 14
because the argument does not contain a record reference. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(i) (“The [argument] must contain . . . appropriate citations to authorities and to the record.”). However, we construe briefs liberally and attempt to reach the merits of the dispute whenever reasonably possible. Tex. R. App. P. 38.9; Horton v. Stovall, 591 S.W.3d 567, 569 (Tex. 2019). Given that the testimony in question takes up only two pages of
23 T.M.’s attorney, as an expert on attorney fees, testified that she had been a
licensed attorney since 2001, that S.M. stipulated to her qualifications as an expert, that
she requested $2,250 in attorney’s fees, and that the amount was a reasonable fee for
an attorney of her experience and expertise. She also asked the court to award $516 to
the district clerk for court costs.
A court may assess reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees against a party found
to have committed family violence or a party against whom an agreed protective order
is rendered as compensation for the services of a private or prosecuting attorney or an
attorney employed by the Department of Family and Protective Services. Tex. Fam.
Code Ann. § 81.005(a). S.M. does not challenge T.M.’s right to receive attorney’s fees,
but only the amount awarded.
A party seeking recovery of attorney’s fees must meet the framework for
determining the lodestar method for determining the reasonableness and necessity of
attorney’s fees:
Under the lodestar method, the determination of what constitutes a reasonable attorney’s fee involves two steps. First, the [factfinder] must determine the reasonable hours spent by counsel in the case and a reasonable hourly rate for such work. The [factfinder] then multiplies the number of such hours by the applicable rate, the product of which is the base fee or lodestar. The [factfinder] may then adjust the base lodestar up or down (apply a multiplier), if relevant factors indicate an adjustment is necessary to reach a reasonable fee in the case.
the reporter’s record—with no exhibits—we are able to discern the portion of the record to which S.M. refers.
24 El Apple I, Ltd. v. Olivas, 370 S.W.3d 757, 760 (Tex. 2012); see B.E.K. v. C.E.O., No. 02-
23-00025-CV, 2024 WL 3195849, at *7 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth June 27, 2024, pet.
denied) (mem. op.).
In this case, the only evidence introduced as to the amount of reasonable and
necessary attorney’s fees was the testimony of T.M.’s attorney, Marvina Robinson.
After testifying that she had been licensed in Texas since 2001, Robinson testified that
S.M.’s counsel had stipulated to her qualifications. Robinson further testified:
We are asking this court for $2,250 in attorney’s fees in this matter. That is a reasonable fee for an attorney of my experience and expertise. We are also asking the [trial court] to make an award of court costs in the amount of $516 to the Tarrant County District Clerk for the cost of court and service fees in this matter. And I pass myself.” This comprised the entirety of the evidence as to the amount, reasonableness, and
necessity of attorney’s fees.
Although contemporaneous billing records are not required, they are strongly
encouraged to prove the reasonableness and necessity of requested fees when those
elements are contested. Rohrmoos Venture v. UTSW DVA Healthcare, LLP, 578 S.W.3d
469, 502 (Tex. 2019). At a minimum, the claimant must prove (1) the particular services
performed, (2) who performed them, (3) approximately when they were performed,
(4) the reasonable time required to perform them, and (5) the reasonable hourly rate for
each person performing them. Id. at 498–99. The evidence adduced by T.M. addressed
none of these; it therefore did not meet this minimum standard. See id.; Hizar v. Heflin,
672 S.W.3d 774, 803–04 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2023, pet. denied).
25 Because attorney’s fees are authorized but the evidence was legally insufficient
to support the amount of fees awarded, we reverse the award of attorney’s fees and
remand this issue to the trial court for a new trial solely on attorney’s fees. See Roohrmoos,
578 S.W.3d at 506; Hizar, 672 S.W.3d at 804.
IV. CONCLUSION
Having overruled S.M.’s issues challenging the 30-year protective order
independent of the attorney’s fees award, we affirm that part of the order. But because
we have sustained S.M.’s final issue, we reverse and remand to the trial court solely for
a new trial on attorney’s fees.
/s/ Brian Walker
Brian Walker Justice
Delivered: March 19, 2026