Ex parte Fiedler

• Decision Date: 15 October 1969
• Docket Number: No. 14831,14831
• Parties: Ex parte Floyd Earl FIEDLER. . San Antonio
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 698

446 S.W.2d 698

Ex parte Floyd Earl FIEDLER.

No. 14831.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas.

San Antonio.

Oct. 15, 1969.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 12, 1969.

Nicholas & Barrera, Fred Clark, San Antonio, for appellant.

Frank Y. Hill, Jr., San Antonio, for appellee.

KLINGEMAN, Justice.

This is an original habeas corpus proceeding pursuant to the provisions of Art. 1824a, Vernon's Ann. Revised Civil Statutes of Texas. ¹ Relator, Floyd Earl Fiedler, has been adjudged in contempt by the District Court of Bexar County, Texas, for failure to make payments for support of his minor son, as required by the divorce judgment entered by the District Court of Bexar County, Texas, on December 4, 1959, wherein Relator was ordered to make child support payments of $10.00 a week, payable on Monday of each week, commencing on the seventh day of December, 1959. The contempt decree fixed the punishment at three days in jail, and further directed that Relator remain in jail until he had purged himself of contempt by paying the sum of $1,450.00 found to be in arrears.

Hearings were held on three separate occasions in connection with such contempt proceedings. On September 2, 1969, Relator was adjudged in contempt for failure and refusal to make child support payments in the total sum of $1,450.00 of which he was in arrears. Relator did not appear at this hearing. The trial court withheld issuance of a capias until September 5, 1969, pursuant to agreement of counsel, pending the filing of a motion to set aside said order adjudging Relator in contempt. Relator did file such motion and a full hearing was had on September 5, 1969, at which time the court denied Relator's motion to set aside the order of September 2, 1969. Thereafter, Relator filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the District Court of Bexar County, Texas, and on September 12, 1969, after a hearing, the District Court denied any relief under the writ and remanded the Relator to custody of the Sheriff. We conclude it proper to consider the testimony heard at all three hearings. Ex parte Ramzy, 424 S.W.2d 220 (Tex.Sup.1968); Ex parte Rohleder, 424 S.W.2d 891 (Tex.Sup.1967); Ex parte Elmore, 161 Tex. 585, 342 S.W.2d 558 (1961) .

Relator asserts that the record made at the hearings below conclusively established his inability to perform the order of the court requiring him to pay the sum of $1,450.00 and confining him in jail until such sum in paid in full, and that the judgment in such coercive respect is void.

A question is presented at the outset concerning Relator's right to file an original habeas corpus proceeding in this Court after the trial court had denied a similar plea for relief. Article 1824a, supra, confers concurrent jurisdiction to the Court of Civil Appeals with the Supreme Court to issue the writ of habeas corpus whenever a person is restrained of his liberty by virtue of any order, judgment or decree made in a divorce case, wife or child support case, or child custody case. The Supreme Court of Texas in two recent cases has clearly recognized the right of a Relator who is restained under a void order to seek relief by habeas corpus in the Supreme Court although a prior writ had been sought in the trial court. Ex parte Ramzy, supra; Ex parte Gonzales, 414 S.W.2d 656 (Tex.Sup.1967). Although the question of jurisdiction is not specifically discussed, the Court obviously recognized its jurisdiction and in fact such procedure was specifically recommended in a concurring opinion by Justice Norvell in Ex parte Ramzy, supra.

Art. 11.59, Vernon's Ann.C.C.P., provides that a party may obtain the writ of habeas corpus a second time by stating in his motion that there is newly discovered testimony. However, such Code by its own provision ² is limited to criminal proceedings. The writ sought here is not based on a criminal proceeding and, in fact, the Supreme Court and this Court's power to issue writs of habeas corpus is limited to instances where the confinement is by virtue of an order, judgment or decree issued by a court or judge at the trial of a civil cause.

It is true that Relator had the right of appeal from the erroneous denial by the trial court of his application for habeas corpus. Harbison v. McMurray, 138 Tex. 192, 158 S.W.2d 284 (1942). However, such a relief has never prevented application for a writ of habeas corpus by a person confined under a void judgment or order. Obviously, the time element necessary for appeal reduces its desirability in the eyes of the wrongfully confined prisoner.

The writ of habeas corpus is a prerogative writ regarded as the bulwark of human liberty. The writ is one of right, designed to protect the individual against any character of restraint, and to obtain a speedy adjudication of his right to release from an illegal imprisonment. Justice Greenhill, Habeas Corpus Proceedings in the Supreme Court of Texas, Vol. 1, No. 1, St. Mary's Law Journal; Ex Parte Ramzy, supra.

To compel one who is illegally confined in jail by virtue of a void order to await the long process of appeal would make a mockery of the writ of habeas corpus. Great fear is expressed in the dissenting opinion over the abuse of the use of the right of habeas corpus. Actually, the only change in the law made by the 61st Legislature is in granting concurrent jurisdiction to the Courts of Civil Appeals with the Supreme Court. The expressed fear of Relator 'to begin a grand tour of the district courts of this State, filing petition after petition,' existed under the prior law. No such abuse has existed. Furthermore, any such attempt could be controlled. Leave is required before a writ of habeas corpus is filed in either the Court of Civil Appeals or the Supreme Court. Greenhill, Habeas Corpus Proceeding, supra.

A habeas corpus proceedings is a collateral attack on a judgment of contempt and one may be relieved of its impositions only if the judgment is void. Ex parte Thetford, 369 S.W.2d 924 (Tex.Sup.1963); Ex parte Helms, 152 Tex. 480, 259 S.W.2d 184 (1953). Relator has served the three days assessed against him as punishment for his disobedience of the court's support order and we are concerned here with only the coercive part of the order. Under the provisions of Art. 1911, Vernon's Ann.Civ.St., a contemnor may be punished for contempt, notwithstanding his inability at the time of the contempt decree to perform, but the limits of such punishment is by fine not exceeding $100.00 and by imprisonment not exceeding three days. Ex parte De Wees, 146 Tex. 564, 210 S.W.2d 145 (1948). It is settled that a judgment of contempt imposing a coercive restraint is void if the condition for purging the contempt is impossible of performance. Ex parte Thetford, supra; Ex parte De Wees, supra; Ex parte Helms, supra; Ex parte Rohleder, supra.

We have carefully considered the testimony adduced at the three hearings. Relator did not have permanent employment. Prior to his being incarcerated for contempt, he had been employed at a service station for two weeks, where he had earned about $55.00 per week. He had no money in the bank or anywhere else, in fact, the uncontradicted testimony is that his only assets were his clothing. He testified that he had no source from which he could borrow the $1,450.00. He had gotten behind for smaller amounts on previous occasions and was able to borrow such arrears from his stepfather, a city policeman. However, he testified that his stepfather did not have $1,450.00 at this time and could not help him. Certainly, his incarceration for a period of over seven days before filing this writ of habeas corpus is some corroboration of this uncontradicted testimony. Furthermore, it is obvious that his credit opportunities while incarcerated would be very limited. There was no testimony from any source which attempted to discredit, impeach, or disprove the assertions of Relator relative to his inability to make the payment ordered by the court.

The record supports the conclusion that relator was able to pay some, if not all, of the weekly payments in the past as they...