In re K.R

In In re K.R., 63 S.W.3d 796, 800, n.20, 45 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 95 (Tex. 2001), the Court considered a parent's argument that procedural due process precludes a reviewing court from applying a harmless error analysis to his claim that his being handcuffed throughout the trial improperly prejudiced the jury. Id. at 798. The Court held that, while it agreed "that judgments terminating the parent-child relationship must be carefully scrutinized because of the importance of that relationship, it could not conclude that the Fourteenth Amendment requires reversal of the judgment in this case without regard to harm." Id. at 800. The Court explained that, even in criminal cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the notion that any constitutional error requires automatic reversal. Id. To the contrary, if "trial errors" such as "errors in the charge and in evidentiary rulings" occur, courts may not reverse the judgment unless the error caused harm. Id.