Opinion ID: 1257657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: a written memorial of the trial court's 1977 ruling is an indispensable prerequisite for the reviewing court's appraisal of its preclusive effect

Text: A superior court of common law speaks only through its record. The appealing party bears the burden of procuring a record sufficient to support the corrective relief which is sought. [18] That record must always include a written memorial of the judicial action which either triggered the appealable event or that which is essential to its appellate review. [19] The absence of a written memorial is not essential to the validity or finality of a judgment or order, nor does the failure promptly to file the entry render a ruling ineffective or unenforceable. [20] A judgment or order is rendered and begins its legal life as soon as it is pronounced from the bench and before it is ever reduced to writing for entry of record by the clerk. [21] While any judgment or order is operative from the moment it is announced, the only legitimate evidence of the adjudication's legal existence, of its terms and of its legal effect is the record entry bearing the judge's signature. [22] The doctrine of res judicata, [23] which applies with like force to judgments or decrees of the court as it does to its postjudgment and postdecree rulings that stand in law as final, [24] teaches that when the appeal time expires a decision under this rubric becomes impervious to reconsideration and hence binding and conclusive upon the parties. In short, terminal judicial rulings  whether they be judgments or post-judgment dispositions  reach a final determination stage, settle the parties' rights and by force of law are placed beyond the trial court's power to alter, except only upon resort to §§ 1031 and 1031.1 [25] remedies which prescribe vacation or modification procedures. [26] The attribute borne by a final order stands in marked contrast to a prejudgment order. The latter always remains subject to the trial judge's change before judgment is pronounced in the case. [27] Before a reviewing court can determine the res judicata effect of any prior adjudication by a trial court, the ruling to be gauged for its preclusive effect must stand memorialized. [28] No preclusive effect may be accorded to a judge's ruling unless the decision's existence and its terms be established by its record entry. [29] The proof necessary for a record entry's preparation can be supplied and its provisions settled in an adversary hearing. [30] The trial court's postdecree decision under review must hence be reversed and the cause remanded for a hearing necessary to generate a memorial of the critical predecessor judge's 1977 ruling.