Flood v. Templeton

Judgment Obtained by Fraud—Relief against in Equity—Extrinsic Fraud.—Equity will not relieve from the effect of a judgment claimed to have been obtained by fraud when the fraud charged relates to matters upon which the judgment was regularly obtained and where an opportunity was given to the party against whom it was entered to contest the matters in issue or present any defense which was available,—fraud which was directed to or bore upon the claim or issue which was before the court for determination, as when a judgment is entered upon a fraudulent claim or is procured by false testimony, where the party had an opportunity to be heard as to these matters. Such rule, however, has no application to extrinsic or collateral fraud, for which equity will relieve from a judgment obtained thereby. Such fraud operates not upon matters pertaining to the judgment itself, but to the manner in which it is procured, and the principal ground upon which equity affords relief is that by reason of the fraud practiced upon the party against whom the judgment was obtained there was no adversary trial of the issues in the action, and that he was prevented through such fraudulent act of his adversary, and without any fault on his own part, from presenting a meritorious defense to the action. The facts of the present case constitute one of extrinsic or collateral fraud.

Id.—Law of Case—Judgment on Demurrer—Different Cause of Action.—The rule of the “law of the case” is only applicable where the same matters which were determined in the previous appeal are involved in the second appeal; and while a judgment rendered upon the sustaining of a demurrer to a former complaint will be a bar to another action based upon the same allegations of fact, yet where the facts are different and present different questions of law, as they do in the present case, no such bar can be asserted.

Id.—Mortgage Foreclosure—Pleading—Date of and Court Rendering Judgment.—In an action to set aside a judgment for the foreclosure of a mortgage on land, the failure of the complaint to specifically allege the date of the judgment or of the court in which it was rendered cannot be taken advantage of on general demurrer. It will be presumed that the judgment was rendered by the superior court of the county where the mortgaged property was situated.

Quieting Title—Proof of Legal Title—Right of Possession.—In an action to quiet title proof of the legal title in a party raises a presumption of the right of possession in him and establishes a prima facie case in his favor.