Ex parte Graham
| Decision Date | 15 March 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. A14-89-1045-CV,A14-89-1045-CV |
| Parties | Ex parte Larry H. GRAHAM, Relator. (14th Dist.) |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Terry J. Calhoun, Houston, for appellant.
Walter Mahoney, Jr., Houston, for appellee.
Before J. CURTISS BROWN, C.J., and JUNELL and MURPHY, JJ.
This is an original habeas corpus proceeding. Relator was held in contempt of court on November 13, 1989, for failing to comply with temporary orders dated September 12, 1989, requiring, inter alia, that relator make monthly mortgage payments on the home occupied by his spouse. Pursuant to TEX.GOV'T CODE ANN. § 22.221(d) this court granted leave to file the petition for writ of habeas corpus and admitted relator to bail pending hearing set for January 10, 1990. We deny the writ of habeas corpus.
Relator was incarcerated pursuant to a commitment order dated November 13, 1989, and issued by the 310th Judicial District Court of Harris County for failure to make three consecutive monthly payments in the aggregate amount of $1,413.00 on the residence of his spouse as "further support" ordered in the temporary orders related to Cause No. 89-35327, styled:
IN THE MATTER OF THE MARRIAGE OF
LaVERNE A GRAHAM
and
AND IN THE INTEREST OF LaJEANA GRAHAM, LaRONDA GRAHAM, La-
Relator seeks avoidance of the commitment order on grounds that the underlying order is not sufficiently clear and unambiguous, and the commitment order is void under section 14.33(a) of the Texas Family Code due to lack of specificity.
Before an appeals court may order the release of relator in a habeas corpus proceeding, the trial court's order must be void because either it was beyond the power of that court, or because it deprived the relator of his liberty without due process of law. Ex parte Barnett, 600 S.W.2d 252 (Tex.1980).
The temporary orders of the court below read as follows:
IT IS ORDERED that as further support, Larry H. Graham shall pay promptly and timely the house payment due each month for the residence at 17022 Guinn, Houston, Texas 77044 commencing with the payment due for the month of September, 1989.
After service of appropriate notice and a hearing, the commitment order was issued upon these findings:
Larry H. Graham, Respondent is in contempt of this court in that he failed and refused to make support payments in defiance of said Judgment hereinabove referred to [$471.00 each month (House Payment) for the temporary support and maintenance of his spouse, La Verne A. Graham] and further that the unpaid support under said order is the sum of $1,413.00, representing the September, October and November, 1989 payments.
We hold there is no ambiguity in the underlying temporary orders. The facts in this case are easily distinguishable from Ex parte Slavin, 412 S.W.2d 43 (Tex.1967), where it was possible to construe the underlying court order in more than one way with more than one meaning. In the case before us, the underlying order can be read...
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