In the matter of L.V.F.--Appeal from 2nd District Court of Cherokee County

Opinion filed May 1, 2008

In The

Eleventh Court of Appeals

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 No. 11-06-00308-CV

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IN THE MATTER OF L.V.F.

On Appeal from the 2nd District Court

Cherokee County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. J-05-098

M E M O R A N D U M O P I N I O N

The trial court found L.V.F. guilty of assault on a public servant by causing bodily injury to a high school teacher and placed L.V.F. on community supervision. The State filed a motion to modify L.V.F.=s disposition; and the trial court found that L.V.F. assaulted another student, tested positive for marihuana, and had been suspended from school. The trial court modified L.V.F.=s disposition by ordering him to attend and complete the Southwest Key Program.

The State subsequently filed a second motion to modify contending that L.V.F. had been discharged from the Southwest Key Program for noncompliance with resident rules and regulations and that he had committed the offense of indecency with a child. The trial court found the State=s allegations to be true and modified L.V.F.=s disposition by committing him to the Texas Youth Commission. We affirm.

L.V.F. challenges this order with four issues contending that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to sustain the trial court=s indecency with a child finding. We need not address these issues, however, because L.V.F. is not challenging the trial court=s finding that he was discharged from the Southwest Key Program for noncompliance. The trial court had the authority to commit L.V.F. to the Texas Youth Commission if it found by a preponderance of the evidence that he violated a reasonable and lawful order of the court. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. ' 54.05(f) (Vernon Supp. 2007). L.V.F. was required by court order to attend and complete the Southwest Key Program. The trial court found that he failed to do so.

The trial court found that L.V.F. was discharged from the program for violating multiple rules and regulations, including: committing or threatening physical violence, leaving the facility without permission, and using abusive or obscene language toward staff or peers. Those findings are binding on us unless the contrary is established as a matter of law or there is no evidence to support the findings. McGalliard v. Kuhlmann, 722 S.W.2d 694, 696 (Tex. 1986).

Gwendolyn Moore is a clinician and caseworker at Southwest Key Residential Treatment Center. She testified that L.V.F. was discharged for failing to follow program rules. According to Moore, L.V.F. walked out of the program; was violent, argumentative, and confrontational; and used profane or abusive language. This is legally sufficient evidence to support the trial court=s finding.

Because L.V.F. violated a reasonable and lawful order of the court, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by modifying L.V.F.=s disposition to commit him to the Texas Youth Commission. L.V.F.=s issues are overruled, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

PER CURIAM

May 1, 2008

Panel consists of: Wright, C.J.,

McCall, J., and Strange, J.