State Ex Rel. M.L.B. v. D.G.H.State Ex Rel. M.L.B. v. D.G.H.
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Shirley S. Abrahamson
SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
This is a review of an unpublished decision of the court of appeals filed on
This appeal arises from an out of wedlock agreement (hereinafter, agreement) which D.G.H. signed in open court in April, 1978. See
On June 1, 1982, D.G.H. began proceedings to set aside the agreement. The child, through his guardian ad litem, objected. The only issue the parties raised before the circuit court, the court of appeals, and this court is whether D.G.H. is entitled to relief from the agreement under
Sec. 806.07 provides as follows:
“806.07 Relief from judgment or order. (1) On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or legal representative from a judgment, order or stipulation for the following reasons:
“(a) Mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect;
“(b) Newly-discovered evidence which entitles a party to a new trial under s. 805.15(3);
“(c) Fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party;
“(d) The judgment is void;
“(e) The judgment has been satisfied, released or discharged;
“(f) A prior judgment upon which the judgment is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated;
“(g) It is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or
“(h) Any other reasons justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.
“(2) The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and, if based on sub. (1)(a) or (c), not more than one year after the judgment was entered or the order or stipulation was made. A motion based on sub. (1)(b) shall be made within the time provided in s. 805.16. A motion under this section does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation. This section does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to relieve a party from judgment, order, or proceeding,
or to set aside a judgment for fraud on the court.”
D.G.H. grounds his request for relief on the following assertions set forth in his petition and in his offer of proof:1 (1) M.L.B. had, prior to the execution of the agreement, falsely stated in a questionnaire dated October 14, 1976, and filed with Fond du Lac County‘s Special Investigator‘s Office that she had had intercourse with no one but D.G.H. for about a year before the questionnaire was executed;2 (2) M.L.B. now admits that she had intercourse with a male other than D.G.H. approximately 10 times between April 21, 1976 and June 20, 1976; (3) D.G.H. (born on September 8, 1959) was 16 years old and a sophomore in high school when the child was conceived, was 17 years old when the child was born, and was an 18 and one-half-year-old unemployed high school graduate when he signed the agreement; (3) D.G.H. was not represented by counsel when he
The circuit court denied D.G.H.‘s petition, holding that the bases for D.G.H.‘s claim for relief were fraud, mistake, or newly discovered evidence within
A circuit court‘s order denying a motion for relief under
The issue presented in this case is whether the circuit court rested its decision upon an error of law, namely an incorrect interpretation of
Sec. 806.07 attempts to achieve a balance between the competing values of finality and fairness in the resolution of a dispute. See Graczyk, The New Wisconsin Rules of Civil Procedure, Chapters 805-807, 59 Marq. L. Rev. 671, 727 (1976). The court must construe section 806.07 to achieve this balance. For assistance in construction of
Subsection (g) provides that a court may relieve a party from a judgment if “it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application.” The parties have not directed this court to any Wisconsin cases construing
In this case, D.G.H. is seeking relief not only from the prospective operation of the support orders but also from the “original judgment,” that is, from his agreement that he is the father. This case, unlike a permanent injunction case, does not involve a change of the conditions or the operative facts occurring after the “judgment.” Rather, D.G.H. and the court are now aware of facts previously unknown to them. This is not a case where changes make prospective application of a previously proper judgment inequitable but rather a case where new information makes the original “judgment” inequitable. We therefore conclude that this case does not appear to fall within the usual circumstances warranting relief under subsection (g). Thus, the focus of our analysis should be on
Subsection (h) declares that the court may grant relief “for any other reasons justifying relief.” Subsection (h) is written in broad terms and obviously extends the grounds for relief beyond those provided for in the preceding subsections: under subsection (h) the ground for
The circuit court and the court of appeals, relying on the federal interpretation of
The circuit court‘s interpretation of the proper application of
The leading cases in which the United States Supreme Court has construed
The petitioner in Klapprott, supra, had been granted U.S. citizenship in 1933 after taking an oath renouncing allegiance to Germany, his native country. In 1942 the United States attorney filed a complaint in a federal district court to cancel Klapprott‘s certificate of naturalization. The complaint alleged that Klapprott‘s oath of allegiance was false, as evidenced by his writings, speeches, and organizational membership. Klapprott was served with notice of the denaturalization proceedings but was arrested on federal criminal charges prior to the 60-day limit for answering. He alleged that he could not afford a lawyer and that his letter to the American Civil Liberties Union requesting a free lawyer had been confiscated by federal authorities and never mailed. While he was in a New York jail on the criminal charges, a default judgment was entered against him in the denaturalization proceedings in the New Jersey federal court. No hearings or evidence preceded the judgment, which had the effect of canceling his certificate of naturalization. Klapprott claimed that a lawyer appointed to represent him in the criminal case agreed to assist him by attending the New Jersey proceedings but reneged on the promise. More than four years later and while still a federal prisoner, Klapprott filed a petition pursuant to
The government argued that since Klapprott‘s petition was basically a claim of excusable neglect in not attending
The Court rejected the government‘s argument and found that Klapprott‘s petition set forth circumstances that, if proved, would justify relief under the “any other reason” clause of
This decision was based on the Court‘s perception that “petitioner‘s allegations set up an extraordinary situation which cannot fairly or logically be classified as mere `neglect’ on his part.” Id. at 613. The Court stated that “of course, the one year limitation would control if no more than `neglect’ was disclosed by the petition. In that event the petitioner could not avail himself of the broad `any other reason’ clause . . . .” Id. at 613.
The year following the Klapprott decision, the United States Supreme Court was again confronted with a case in which the petitioner was seeking relief under
In Ackermann v. United States, 340 U.S. 195 (1950), the petitioner, like Klapprott, had been granted U.S. citizenship which was challenged by the U.S. Government on the basis of fraud. The petitioner, his wife, and his brother-in-law were represented by counsel, tried in consolidated proceedings, and had separate judgments canceling their citizenship entered against them. The brother-in-law appealed to the court of appeals, and upon stipulation with the United States attorney, the case against him was reversed and the complaint dismissed.
The Court compared these allegations with those set forth in Klapprott and held that the Ackermann case did not present the kind of extraordinary circumstances required for
The Supreme Court was concerned in Klapprott and in Ackermann with how to preserve the limitations on the district court‘s powers set forth in
The lower federal courts have taken divergent approaches to the balancing of the sometimes conflicting goals of fairness and finality implicit in
Despite the fact that the courts state that subdivision (6) is deemed exclusive of other provisions, the application
Some courts say that the strict mutual exclusiveness interpretation is required to avoid rendering meaningless the term “other” in the “any other reason” clause of
Other federal courts, echoing the principle of mutual exclusivity, have refused to apply the principle rigidly; they either expressly or in result interpret
We are persuaded that the “extraordinary circumstances” test is an appropriate way to approach claims for relief under
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals similarly construed
Nevertheless, having determined that the motion for relief was grounded in fraud, the court of appeals did not stop there. Rather, allowing the possibility of relief for other reasons, it went on to consider whether exceptional circumstances might justify relief under
While the Ennis court does not grant relief under
Two cases of this court involving
As might be expected, the federal and state cases do not reveal a complete list of what facts constitute extraordinary circumstances. Because subsection (h) invokes the sensibilities of the court, the court must consider a wide range of factors, and it is difficult to articulate the criteria on which the finding of extraordinary circumstances is based. The court should not interpret extraordinary circumstances so broadly as to erode the concept of finality, nor should it interpret extraordinary circumstances so narrowly that subsection (h) does not provide a means for relief for truly deserving claimants. A final judgment should not be hastily disturbed, but subsection (h) should be construed to do substantial justice.
In exercising its discretion, the circuit court should consider factors relevant to the competing interests of finality of judgments and relief from unjust judgments, including the following: whether the judgment was the result of the conscientious, deliberate and well-informed choice of the claimant; whether the claimant received the effective assistance of counsel; whether relief is sought from a judgment in which there has been no judicial consideration of the merits and the interest of deciding the particular case on the merits outweighs the finality of judgments; whether there is a meritorious
As indicated by the preceding discussion, the approach adopted by the court today is consistent with the approach taken in Klapprott, in Ackermann, and in prior Wisconsin cases. Our decision is not inconsistent with the federal cases cited by the child. In Petry v. General Motors Corporation, Chevrolet Division, 62 FRD 357 (E.D. Pa. 1974), and in Rinieri v. News Syndicate Co., 385 F.2d 818 (2d Cir. 1967), upon which the child relies, the motion fell squarely within one of the first three subsections of
Since the proper test under subsection (h) for a claim that in part sounds in subsection (a), (b), or (c) but is brought outside the one-year time period is whether there are extraordinary circumstances justifying relief in the interest of justice, the task the circuit court in this case should have performed was to evaluate the facts set forth in the petition to determine whether, if true, they would constitute extraordinary circumstances justifying relief. If the circuit court concluded that they did, the circuit court then should have held a hearing to determine the truth of the allegations.
There are factors in this case which, if proved, are extraordinary circumstances justifying relief upon terms
In this case the circuit court found that D.G.H.‘s claim for relief, sounding as it does within
Although the circuit court concluded that D.G.H.‘s claim for relief was barred, the circuit court nonetheless considered the equities of the case. The review mandated by the record presently before the court and by our decision today requires that upon remand the circuit court not only hold a hearing on the petition but also make a more extensive analysis of the equities than it previously made.
The circuit court summarily concluded that D.G.H.‘s delay in bringing the present action made it virtually impossible that the biological father could be located.
The circuit court appropriately considered the economic needs of the child but did not consider the emotional needs of the child. In light of the apparent exclusion of D.G.H. as biological father and the history of relations among D.G.H., M.L.B. and the child, it seems unlikely that D.G.H. will offer much emotional support for the child he believes is not his own.
The circuit court also failed to consider, in conjunction with the other circumstances existing in this case, the fairness to D.G.H. of binding him to a lifelong obligation to a child who might not be his own. Unlike other judgments which order a one-time payment of a sum of money, a determination of paternity has long-term prospective ramifications, including support orders, health insurance coverage, worker‘s compensation claims, survivor‘s benefits, and wrongful death claims.
Furthermore, a court‘s adherence to a paternity agreement entered into by an 18-year-old putative father, without counsel, without a trial, without a blood test, when a subsequent blood test offered in proof positively excludes the male as the father, might very well undermine the public‘s faith in our system of justice.
The child‘s guardian ad litem directs this court‘s attention to State ex rel. R.A.S. v. J.M., 114 Wis. 2d 305, 338 N.W.2d 851 (1983). We grant that both R.A.S. and this case are paternity cases that present a “policy question affecting choice between the public interest in the finality of judicial decisions on the one hand and a litigant‘s wish for a less speculative finding of paternity on the other hand . . . .” Id. at 306, n. 1. The facts of this case, however, differ substantially from those in R.A.S.
The putative father in R.A.S., unlike D.G.H. in the present case, was apparently represented by counsel; there was a trial; paternity was decided by a jury; and there was no allegation of fraud on the part of the female complainant.
In the R.A.S. case, years after the trial, the male sought relief from the paternity determination and support orders, seeking a Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) test of blood tissue. The HLA test was developed after
This case, unlike the R.A.S. case, does not involve reopening a judgment on the basis of a technologically advanced blood test. The blood test recently administered in this case was available but not used when the agreement was executed. This case does not risk a flood of new litigation; the result in this case would be based on the extraordinary totality of circumstances which exist here. Rare circumstances of this type can be reviewed by the court under
To determine whether a party is entitled to review under
We hold that the circuit court abused its discretion by basing its discretion on an error of law, that is, on a misinterpretation of
By the Court.—The decision of the court of appeals is reversed; the order of the circuit court is reversed and the cause remanded to the circuit court.
Notes
According to the record, the baby‘s weight at birth was 7 lb. 9 oz.
“Rule 60. Relief From Judgment or Order.
“(b) MISTAKES; INADVERTENCE; EXCUSABLE NEGLECT; NEWLY DISCOVERED EVIDENCE; FRAUD, ETC. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial under Rule 59(b); (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment. The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than one year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision (b) does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation. This rule does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment, order, or proceeding, or to grant relief to a defendant not actually personally notified as provided in Title 28, USC, § 1655, or to set aside a judgment for fraud upon the court. Writs of coram nobis, coram vobis, audita querela, and bills of review and bills in the nature of a bill of review, are abolished, and the procedure for obtaining any relief from a judgment shall be by motion as prescribed in these rules or by an independent action.”