In re K.R‪.‬

The "harmless error" rule, Rule 44.1(a) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, states in part that "[n]o judgment may be reversed on appeal on the ground that the trial court made an error of law unless the court of appeals concludes that the error complained of . . . probably caused the rendition of an improper judgment . . . ." In the case now before us, a divided court of appeals, en banc, held that to apply this rule to a judgment terminating a parent-child relationship when the trial court erred by keeping the defendant, a prison inmate on release, handcuffed during the trial in sight of the jury would violate the due process guaranty of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We disagree.