Ex Parte Hemmitt

CIRE, Justice.

This is a petition for writ of habeas corpus. Petitioner Robert Lee Hemmitt was divorced on July 23, 1971, at which time he was ordered to pay child support in the amount of $15.00 per week. A hearing on an application for a contempt order filed by petitioner’s ex-wife Clara Hemmitt was held on January 9, 1979. The judge there found petitioner to be in contempt of court “in that he failed and refused to make child support payments in defiance of the Judgment. . . . ” Petitioner’s arrearage was found to be in the amount of $412.00, and he was ordered confined to the Harris County…