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459 S.W.2d 194

Ex parte Moss

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas

Decided November 4, 1970

Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas · decided 1970-11-04

Cited by 2 later decisions — most recently June 2001

2 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“The sheriff had refused to accept the bail because a licensed attorney was named as a surety on the bond and the district judge had instructed him not to accept such bonds signed by the attorney as a surety. Id. at 195 . The bond tendered to the sheriff was not offered into evidence, and the court noted that”

quoted by 1 later decision, including LAMAR COUNTY ELEC. CO-OP. ASS'N v. Risinger

“[n]o proof of the sufficiency of the surety appear[ed] in the record.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including LAMAR COUNTY ELEC. CO-OP. ASS'N v. Risinger

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1970-11-04

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1OPINION

DOUGLAS, Judge.

¶2This is an appeal from an order denying relief in a habeas corpus proceeding before the Honorable Terry Jacks, Judge of the 22nd Judicial District Court of Hays County.

¶3The petition for writ of habeas corpus, filed by Mike Moss and Billy Oliver, alleged that they were charged for the offense of burglary in Hays County, and that they tendered bail by a good and sufficient surety to the sheriff of Hays County, but the sheriff refused to accept bail because he would not allow a licensed attorney to become a surety on the bonds.

¶4The allegations in a petition for habeas corpus are not self proving.

¶5At the habeas corpus hearing the sheriff testified that the bonds tendered to him were refused because the district judge had instructed him not to accept bonds signed by attorneys who represented those accused of crimes.

¶6The bond tendered the sheriff was not offered in evidence and does not appear in the record.1

¶7No proof of the sufficiency of the surety appears in the record.

¶8It appears that the attorney-client relationship existed at the time the bond was signed by the surety and continues to exist.2

¶9In the absence of proof of proper bonds signed by a good and sufficient surety, no abuse of discretion is shown.

¶10The order denying relief is affirmed.

¶11. Since the arguments on original submission, two bonds in the names of the Petitioners have been forwarded to this Court by counsel for Petitioners. They cannot be .considered, because they are not a part of the record. It is noted that they do not contain the signature of the Petitioners as principals.

¶12. The writer has found no statutory or other authority in Texas that would prohibit a licensed attorney from acting as surety on his client’s bond in a criminal case. It is noted that the Canons of Professional Ethics of the State Bar of Texas in Opinion #347 provides, in part:

“1. It is not unethical for an attorney habitually to engage in the practice of making bail bonds in criminal cases, if the attorney-client relationship exists at the time he signs the bond — provided that the attorney does not engage in this practice with such notoriety as to constitute indirect solicitation. It is a violation of the Canons of Ethics for an attorney to sign as bondsman in a criminal case at a time when the attorney-client relationship does not exist, if he thereafter acts as attorney for the principal on the bond.
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“6. It is unethical for an attorney to be on a bondsman list and to knowingly consent to this list being exhibited to prisoners in the jail.”
/459/sw2d/194 · .json · Public domain