In re Richardson, No. 06-07-00035-CV (Tex. App. 3/22/2007), 06-07-00035-CV.
| Decision Date | 22 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06-07-00035-CV.,06-07-00035-CV. |
| Parties | IN RE: ADAM HUGH RICHARDSON. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Before MORRISS, C.J., CARTER and MOSELEY, JJ.
On March 8, 2007, Adam Hugh Richardson was found to be in contempt of the trial court for failing to comply with that court's previous orders of December 14 and 20, 2006. Richardson has now filed an original application for writ of habeas corpus with this Court,1 raising two issues in support of his claim that he is being illegally confined in the Gregg County jail in violation of his due-process rights. Based on the record before us, we conclude Richardson is illegally restrained. Therefore, we grant Richardson's application for writ of habeas corpus.
"An original habeas corpus proceeding is a collateral attack on a contempt judgment." Ex parte Littleton, 97 S.W.3d 840, 841 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2003, orig. proceeding). "The purpose of a writ of habeas corpus is not to determine the guilt of the contemnor, but only to determine whether he or she was afforded due process of law or if the order of contempt is void." Id.; see also In re Estrello, 130 S.W.3d 391, 393 (Tex. App.-Beaumont 2004, orig. proceeding).
Richardson first asserts he has been illegally restrained because the trial court's commitment order fails to specifically direct the sheriff to take Richardson into custody and because no written order of commitment had been issued.2
To confine a person for civil contempt, due process requires both a written judgment of contempt and a written order of commitment. Ex parte Hernandez, 827 S.W.2d 858 (Tex. 1992) (orig. proceeding); Ex parte Strickland, 723 S.W.2d 668, 669 (Tex. 1987) (orig. proceeding). A commitment order is a warrant, order, or process by which a court directs a ministerial officer to take a person into custody. Hernandez, 827 S.W.2d at 858. "The order containing this directive need not take a particular form and may be a separate order issued by the court, an attachment or order issued by the clerk at the court's direction, or included in the contempt judgment." Id. An arrest for contempt without a written commitment order is an illegal restraint from which the prisoner is entitled to habeas relief. Ex parte Amaya, 748 S.W.2d 224, 225 (Tex. 1988) (orig. proceeding).
The record before us contains a document entitled "Order Holding Respondent in Contempt for Failure To Pay Child Support, Granting Judgment, And for Commitment to County Jail." That order was signed by the trial court March 8, 2007, and makes factual findings that Richardson violated several of the trial court's orders regarding support of Richardson's child and former spouse. The trial court's order also makes findings of both civil and criminal contempt, and it orders Richardson be held in the Gregg County jail for a period of 180 days for his contemptuous behavior. But the document does not itself specifically order any sheriff, constable, or other law enforcement officer to take Richardson into custody.
We reviewed a similar factual scenario in Littleton. The written order of contempt in Littleton failed to specifically direct any law enforcement officer to take the contemnor into custody. Before this Court, the real party in interest sought to rely on the "Jail Commitment Card" to satisfy the requirement that the trial court enter an order specifically directing the Gregg County sheriff to take Littleton into custody. We concluded that a "jail card" was insufficient to satisfy Littleton's procedural due-process rights, that the remaining orders in connection with the case were similarly insufficient to satisfy procedural due-process requirements, and that Littleton's continued confinement based on the inadequate orders violated Littleton's due-process rights. Littleton, 97 S.W.3d at 841-42.
Turning to the case now before us, we see Richardson's procedural posture is different. While the trial court's order of March 8 does not expressly direct the Gregg County sheriff or any other law enforcement official to take Richardson into custody and detain him for the term of the judgment, there is another directive issued in this case that, if promptly issued, would have satisfied that otherwise missing requirement: a writ of commitment issued by the district clerk of Gregg County. That writ, issued March 13, 2007, states:
In Cause No. 2006-2888-DR pending in the 307th Judicial District Court of GREGG County, Texas, styled "In the Matter of the Marriage of Brandy Richardson and Adam Richardson and In the Interest of [D.R.]," ADAM RICHARDSON has been adjudged in contempt of court.
You are therefore COMMANDED to take into your custody and commit to the jail of your county ADAM RICHARDSON to be confined in accordance with the judgment of contempt attached to this writ or until he is otherwise...
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