Ex parte Haskin

• Decision Date: 13 December 1990
• Docket Number: No. 13-90-423-CV,13-90-423-CV
• Citation: 801 S.W.2d 12
• Parties: Ex parte Emmanuel HASKIN, Relator.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 12

801 S.W.2d 12

Ex parte Emmanuel HASKIN, Relator.

No. 13-90-423-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas Corpus Christi.

Dec. 13, 1990.

Vaughn L. Westheimer, Corpus Christi, for appellant.

Irma M. Sanjines, Corpus Christi, Tod L. Adamson, Jim Mattox, Mary F. Keller, Lou McCreary, Richard Casey Hoffman, Austin, for appellee.

Before BENAVIDES, KENNEDY and DORSEY, JJ.

OPINION

BENAVIDES, Justice.

Relator filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking relief from an order enforcing a child support obligation which provided for relator's incarceration for failing to make child support payments. We ordered relator released on bond pending resolution of the matter on its merits. See Tex.Gov't Code Ann. § 22.221(d) (Vernon Supp.1990). He contended that he was illegally restrained because the State produced no evidence at the hearing held in the district court from his appeal of the master's ruling. He also argued that he was illegally restrained because the trial court denied him the right to a hearing de novo on his appeal from a master's ruling. We grant the writ and order relator discharged.

The record shows that on October 25, 1990, the motion for enforcement was heard before the master. Relator timely filed a notice of appeal from the master's report pursuant to Tex.Gov't Code Ann. § 54.012 (Vernon 1988). In the notice of appeal, relator specified that he disputed the amount of arrearage, the fine imposed, his ability to pay, a finding concerning an automobile purchase, and a finding that he has not paid one cent of child support. He demanded an evidentiary hearing de novo on the issues raised.

At the hearing on the appeal from the master's ruling, the trial court was adamant that it was acting as an appellate court in the matter. The trial court stated that it could not second guess what the master had done. Relator's attorney agreed and suggested that for that very reason relator wanted a trial de novo. Relator's attorney later reiterated that he had mainly factual issues that he wanted the trial court to hear. The trial court suggested that it did not have the ability to hear fact issues. The trial court denied the motion. The attorney representing the child support division presented no evidence.

There is little case law discussing the use of masters in Texas courts. To be eligible for appointment, the master must meet the requirements and qualifications to serve as a judge of the court to which the master is appointed. Tex.Gov't Code Ann. § 54.002 (Vernon 1988). A judge may properly refer to the master a contempt proceeding, such as the one in the instant case. Tex.Gov't Code Ann. § 54.005(a)(7) (Vernon 1988). At the conclusion of any hearing conducted by the master, the master is required to transmit all papers to the referring court. A "check" on this system is the right of the parties to appeal the master's rulings. The code provides that on appeal to the referring court, the parties may present witnesses as in a hearing de novo on the issues raised in the appeal. Tex.Gov't Code Ann § 54.012(e) (Vernon 1988). The master's rulings remain in effect pending appeal of the master's report, except for orders providing for incarceration or for the appointment of a receiver. Tex.Gov't Code Ann. § 54.015 (Vernon 1988).

A de novo trial is a full trial on the facts as well as the law. Southern Canal Co. v. State Board of Water Engineers, 159 Tex. 227, 318 S.W.2d 619, 622 (1958). De novo review connotes hearing a matter anew. For instance, in an appeal from the justice court to the county court, a county court does not merely review the evidence but retries the issues. In fact, an appeal in such case annuls the justice court judgment Id.

Relator argues that he was illegally restrained because he was entitled to a trial de novo from the master's ruling on the issues raised. He claims that when the case...