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Ex Parte Barnes

730 S.W.2d 46 (1987)

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Ex Parte Barnes

Texas Court of Appeals
730 S.W.2d 46 (1987)

  • Written by Whitney Kamerzel , JD

Facts

Mr. Barnes (plaintiff) and Mrs. Barnes were married and subsequently divorced. The divorce decree required Mr. Barnes to make child-support payments. After Mr. Barnes failed to make the required payments, the trial court held a hearing to determine whether Mr. Barnes would be held in contempt. Mrs. Barnes made a prima facie showing of Mr. Barnes’s ability to make the child-support payments, and Mr. Barnes did not argue that he was unable to comply with the child-support order. The trial court held Mr. Barnes in contempt and ordered him imprisoned for 30 days and thereafter until he made the $7,000 in missed payments. Mr. Barnes filed a writ of habeas corpus, which was denied because Mr. Barnes did not claim he was unable to make the child-support payments at the original contempt hearing. Mr. Barnes filed a second writ of habeas corpus, which the Texas Court of Appeals agreed to review. At a hearing, Mr. Barnes showed that he had a present inability to pay the child-support obligations because he had no resources of his own, had no family to borrow money from, and was refused loans by several institutions.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Cadena, C.J.)

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