Opinion ID: 1440915
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Effect of Proceedings in Howard County

Text: The proceedings in the Circuit Court for Howard County fall into two categories. First, acting pursuant to the Maryland Uniform Enforcement of Judgments Act, Maryland Code, §§ 11-801 through 11-807 of the Cts. & Jud. Proc. Article (CJP), appellants filed the judgment of the Circuit Court for Loudoun County with the Clerk of the Howard County Court, thereby giving it the same effect and [] subject to the same procedures, defenses, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, staying, enforcing, or satisfying as a judgment of the court in which it is filed. § 11-802(b). As we indicated in Legum v. Brown, 395 Md. 135, 142-43, 909 A.2d 672, 676-77 (2006), those statutes, along with a 1790 Federal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, serve to implement the Constitutional requirement that each State give full faith and credit to the final judgments of its sister States. Having so filed the Virginia judgment, appellants then sought, by various methods, to enforce itas noted, they filed a writ of garnishment and sought to attach and sequester Rice's interest in Mid-Atlantic. Appellants claim that both the filing of the judgment with the clerk and the Confirmatory Order entered by the Howard County Court settled the question of the validity of the Virginia judgment and thereby barred appellants from contesting it by raising an accord and satisfaction defense in Montgomery County. Appellees disagree with that position on the merits and also contend that appellants are themselves barred from even raising that issue on appeal because they failed to raise it timely in the Circuit Court. Appellees note that, when they argued the effect of the accord and satisfaction below, appellants' only res judicata /collateral estoppel response was that appellees had failed to present that defense in the Loudoun County court when that court considered the Consent Order. Not until they filed a motion for reconsideration of the partial summary judgment did they argue the preclusive effect of the orders entered in Howard County. Appellees contend, in other words, that appellants are barred from complaining that appellees are barred. The articulation of these defenses and responses is more complex than the answer to them. We start with the fact that the filing with the clerk of a final judgment entered by a court of record of a sister State pursuant to CJP § 11-802 is largely ministerial. A copy of the judgment is filed with the clerk, who thereafter must treat it in the same manner as a judgment of his or her own court. CJP § 11-802(a)(2). The filing simply enrolls or domesticates the foreign judgment in the Maryland county, and allows it, subject to such defenses as may properly be raised, to be enforced in the county. As appellees made clear throughout, they never contested the validity of the Virginia judgment or asserted that Maryland should not give full faith and credit to it. Their argument, from the beginning, has been that, because of the accord and satisfaction, the valid judgment had been satisfied and was therefore no longer enforceable. The statute recognizes a distinction between the filing of the judgment and its enforcement. Section 11-804 expressly permits the court to stay enforcement of the judgment for various reasons, including any ground on which enforcement of a judgment of the court of this State would be stayed,. . . . § 11-804(b). That distinction has also been recognized in our case law. See Mike Smith Pontiac, GMC, Inc. v. Mercedes-Benz, 356 Md. 542, 562, 741 A.2d 462, 472-73 (1999), where, after noting that some defenses challenge the validity of the foreign judgment while others accept the validity of the judgment and challenge only its enforcement, we concluded: The distinction between recognition and enforcement applies in the instant case. Smith did indeed domesticate its Florida District judgment by filing under Maryland's [Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act]. While this Court must recognize this judgment as a valid Maryland judgment, this Court also may inquire into post-judgment defenses in order to determine the extent to which it is enforceable. See also Guinness PLC v. Ward, 955 F.2d 875 (4th Cir.1992), as discussed in Smith Pontiac. In recognition of this distinction, which proceeds from the statute itself, it is clear that the mere filing of the Loudoun County judgment with the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Howard County does not establish the enforceability of that judgment and therefore would not bar appellees, under any notion of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or finality of judgment from challenging its enforceability by reason of a post-judgment act that would have the effect of discharging or satisfying the judgment. We thus turn to that prong of appellants' claim or issue preclusion argument. The doctrine of claim preclusion, or res judicata, bars the relitigation of a claim if there is a final judgment in a previous litigation where the parties, the subject matter and causes of action are identical or substantially identical as to issues actually litigated and as to those which could have or should have been raised in the previous litigation. Board of Ed. v. Norville, 390 Md. 93, 106, 887 A.2d 1029, 1037 (2005). See also Alvey v. Alvey, 225 Md. 386, 390, 171 A.2d 92, 94 (1961) and Lizzi v. WMATA, 384 Md. 199, 206-07, 862 A.2d 1017, 1022 (2004). The doctrine embodies three elements: (1) the parties in the present litigation are the same or in privity with the parties to the earlier litigation; (2) the claim presented in the current action is identical to that determined or that which could have been raised and determined in the prior litigation; and (3) there was a final judgment on the merits in the prior litigation. Issue preclusion, or collateral estoppel is a somewhat allied doctrine, but it looks to issues of fact or law that were actually decided in an earlier action, whether or not on the same claim. We have articulated the doctrine thusly: When an issue of fact or law is actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment, . . . the determination is conclusive in a subsequent action between the parties, whether on the same or a different claim. Janes v. State, 350 Md. 284, 295, 711 A.2d 1319, 1324 (1998); Murray International v. Graham, 315 Md. 543, 547, 555 A.2d 502, 504 (1989). Both doctrines hinge, in part, on there having been a final judgment in the earlier litigation, and therein lies the problem with appellants' argument. Their action in Howard County was to attach or sequester Rice's alleged one-third interest in Mid-Atlantic and to garnish any moneys due him by reason of that interest. An attachment is implemented by a writ of execution that is levied by the sheriff against specific property of a judgment debtor. See Maryland Rules 2-641 and 2-642. Unless the property is released from the levy, it may be sold at a public sale, and the net proceeds, to the extent of the judgment lien, will be paid to the judgment creditor. A garnishment is used to attach property of the judgment debtor that is in the possession of a third party. The procedure for garnishing property, other than wages or a partnership interest subject to a charging order under Rule 2-649, is set forth in Maryland Rule 2-645. The end result, if the judgment creditor is successful, is that any property found to belong to the debtor is turned over to the creditor. Sequestration is an ancient equitable remedy initially designed to enforce equity decrees mandating or prohibiting specific conduct. Although in some jurisdictions it apparently has been expanded to include the enforcement of money judgments as well, in Maryland it remains limited to injunctive-type judgments. Maryland Rule 2-648(a) provides that [w]hen a person fails to comply with a judgment prohibiting or mandating action, the court may order the seizure or sequestration of property of the noncomplying person to the extent necessary to compel compliance with the judgment and, in appropriate circumstances, may hold the person in contempt pursuant to Rules 15-206 and 15-207. (Emphasis added). The Rule continues that, if the person fails to comply with a judgment mandating conduct, the court may direct that the act be performed by some other person appointed by the court, and, if the mandate is for the payment of money, the court may enter a money judgment to the extent of the amount owed. The Loudoun County judgment sought to be enforced in Howard County was a money judgment, as defined in Rule 1-202(p), and not a judgment prohibiting or mandating action. It did not order Rice to do, or refrain from doing, anything. Putting aside the inappropriateness of sequestration as a means of enforcing the Loudoun County judgment, the Confirmatory Order entered by the Howard County court did not purport to decide whether appellants were entitled to have the alleged interest of Rice in Mid-Atlantic applied to the judgment, and it therefore was clearly not a final judgment. That Order did no more than freeze the situation by precluding Rice or any other person from disposing of or jeopardizing the interest until the court could sort out, through a trial, who owned the interest and whether appellants were entitled to have it applied to their judgment. A trustee was appointed to take control of the interest and investigate and ascertain its nature. Although, as noted, the parties have not favored us with any indication of what, if anything, further has occurred in the Howard County court with respect to that action, it seems evident from the Confirmatory Order itself that further proceedings were contemplated and would, indeed, be necessary before any definitive ruling could be made with respect to whether Rice had an interest that was subject to attachment, garnishment, or sequestration. Because no final judgment was entered on that issue, no ruling entered in Howard County, including the Confirmatory Order, could suffice to support a claim of either res judicata or collateral estoppel. The Circuit Court for Montgomery County therefore did not err in allowing appellees to argue that the Loudoun County judgment had been satisfied by reason of the accord and satisfaction.