Ex parte Hoover
| Decision Date | 12 February 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 6440,6440 |
| Citation | 520 S.W.2d 483 |
| Parties | Ex parte Burl HOOVER, Relator. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
James J. Crook, El Paso, for relator.
This is an original habeas corpus proceeding under Article 1824a, Vernon's Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann., to secure the release of the Relator, Burl Hoover, who had been adjudged in contempt of the Court of Domestic Relations of El Paso County, Texas, for failure to make child support payments and for violation of an injunction. The writ is granted and Relator is ordered discharged.
On June 22, 1972, a divorce was granted to Relator's wife, Annelore Hoover, in the Court of Domestic Relations of El Paso County, Texas. Mrs. Hoover was granted custody of the parties' three minor children and Relator was ordered to pay into the Registry of the Court the sum of $50.00 per week until the youngest child reaches the age of 18 years, plus 50% Of his military retirement benefits were awarded to Mrs. Hoover. He was also enjoined from interfering with her. On November 14, 1973, Mrs. Hoover filed in the same divorce proceeding a motion to have Relator held in contempt reciting violation of injunction provisions concerning contact with his ex-wife, and a failure to make some of the support payments as required by the divorce decree. The motion stated Relator paid $4,657.00 out of $5,760.00 due for child support and retirement benefits as provided for in the divorce decree. On that same day, the Domestic Relations' judge signed an order which required Relator to appear before the Court at 10:00 A.M. on the 6th day of December, 1973, to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of Court. The notice, with a copy of the Court's order attached to it, was served on Relator, according to the return of the Deputy Sheriff, at 7:45 P.M. on November 27, 1973.
When the cause came on for hearing on December 6, 1973, Relator failed to appear or make any answer. The Court proceeded to hear evidence and found the Relator in arrears on his payments in the amount of $1,103.00 and held him in contempt. He was ordered confined in the County Jail until said sum was paid. He was also found in contempt for violating the provisions of the injunction and assessed a fine of $250.00 and sentenced to 60 days in jail.
Mr. Hoover was arrested on September 19, 1974, and confined in the County Jail for 82 days when we ordered his release on bond on December 11, 1974. He has paid the $250.00 fine, served the 60-day sentence, and now contends in this proceeding that he is without funds to purge himself of the other provisions of the contempt order .
A habeas corpus proceeding is a collateral attack upon the order of commitment and the Relator is entitled to be discharged only if '* * * it affirmatively appears that the judgment ordering his confinement is void, thus depriving the court of jurisdiction and as a result thereof, he is restrained of his liberty without due process of law.' Greenhill and Beirne, Habeas Corpus Proceedings in the Supreme Court...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Ex parte Sauser
...due process, depending on the circumstances. Ex parte Davis, 161 Tex. 561, 344 S.W.2d 153, 155, 157 (1961). More recently, in Ex parte Hoover, 520 S.W.2d 483, 485 (Tex.Civ.App. El Paso 1975, no writ), the El Paso Court of Civil Appeals has held that due process requires the full ten-days' I......
-
Ex parte Trodlier, 15891
...not receive ten days' notice of the hearing as required by Rule 308-A, Tex.R.Civ.P. In support of this contention, relator cites Ex parte Hoover, 520 S.W.2d 483 (Tex.Civ.App. El Paso 1975, no The court's conclusion in Hoover is contrary to the express holding of the Supreme Court in Ex part......
-
Ex parte Boyle, 16838
...to be discharged only if the judgment ordering him confined is void. Ex Parte Rhodes, 163 Tex. 31, 352 S.W.2d 249 (1961); Ex parte Hoover, 520 S.W.2d 483 (Tex .Civ.App.1975, no A court may enforce an order for support as provided in Rule 308--A, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure: 'In cases whe......
-
Ex parte Sturdivant
...amounts to a denial of constitutional due process. Ex Parte Davis, supra; Ex Parte Cardwell, 416 S.W.2d 382 (Tex.1967); Ex Parte Hoover, 520 S.W.2d 483 (Tex.Civ.App.1975). We will not speculate on the amount of notice or the type of circumstances which will render a hearing after less than ......