Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Treylon Jarrad Coleman filed a motion in the Third Court of Appeals challenging the trial court’s order finding that he was not indigent. The order arose from a proceeding in the 98th District Court of Travis County before Judge Sherine Thomas.
Coleman sought relief under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145, which governs exemption from payment of court costs, and Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 20.1, which provides the procedure for establishing an inability to pay appellate costs. The court of appeals reviewed his motion, the clerk’s record, and the reporter’s record from the indigency hearing.
The Court’s Holding
The court held that it could not conclude that the trial court abused its discretion by finding Coleman not indigent. It applied the abuse-of-discretion standard used to review trial-court indigency determinations.
Accordingly, the court denied Coleman’s motion challenging the non-indigency order. The memorandum opinion addressed only Coleman’s claimed inability to pay court costs, not the merits of the underlying dispute.
Key Takeaways
- A trial court’s determination that a litigant is not indigent is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
- The appellate court considered the motion and both the clerk’s and reporter’s records from the indigency proceedings.
- Because the record did not establish an abuse of discretion, Coleman remained subject to the trial court’s non-indigency determination.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates the deference Texas appellate courts give trial courts when reviewing indigency determinations. A party challenging such a ruling must show more than disagreement with the trial court’s assessment; the record must demonstrate an abuse of discretion.
It also underscores the limited scope of an appellate motion concerning court costs: denial of the motion resolves the asserted inability to pay, without deciding the merits of the underlying case.