Opinion ID: 1209498
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: judgment nunc pro tunc

Text: We hold that the court could have clarified the judgment. We do not believe, however, that the action taken by the court clarified the original judgment; instead the judgment nunc pro tunc altered the original judgment so that it no longer was based upon the stipulation of the parties. In many cases clerical error is easily remedied. The trial court in In re Estate of Kimball, supra, 583 P.2d 1274, had corrected a decree, rendered some 28 years previous, when it was clear that the decree was based upon a will but failed to include a pertinent provision of the will. We held such action valid. Likewise, in Midwest Refining Co. v. George, 44 Wyo. 25, 7 P.2d 213 (1932), we held that the court could correct an earlier judgment, which was rendered pursuant to a stipulation of the parties, when the judgment was not in accordance with the stipulation. In these cases the clerical error was easily remedied because the judgments clearly deviated from the instruments upon which they were intended to be based. In the case at bar, the judgment does not so clearly deviate from the stipulation. Appellants Cates and Eddy, by affidavit, stated that they agreed to have judgment entered against them for $207,110.55 as of January 28, 1982, and that they believed the stipulation so stated. The bank, on the other hand, contends that appellants' interpretation gives them a double recovery since the payments received by the bank after January 28, 1982, were already credited and that the bank agreed to accept a judgment of $207,110.55 from May 23, 1983. Because of this dispute, the trial judge could not easily clarify the judgment so that it conformed to the underlying stipulation. Unlike Kimball and Midwest, this was not a situation in which there was an unambiguous document upon which the judgment was intended to be based, but from which the judgment clearly deviated. In fact the court, in its judgment nunc pro tunc, completely ignores the stipulation upon which the original judgment was based, thus changing, as opposed to clarifying, the original judgment. The bank contends that the motion did not involve the meaning and effect of the language of the Stipulation and Confession of Judgment nor the intent of either of the Appellants or their counsel. We cannot agree. The original judgment could only be clarified if its meaning was understood, and because it was clearly based upon the stipulation, it was absolutely necessary to examine the agreement contained in the stipulation in order to determine what was intended by the original judgment. The bank's successful position is further indication that the judgment nunc pro tunc completely changed the original judgment. The nunc pro tunc is limited to cases where it is necessary to make the judgment speak the truth, and cannot be used to change the judgment. Arnold v. State, 76 Wyo. 445, 306 P.2d 368, 374 (1957). In its judgment nunc pro tunc the court, in this case, under the guise of clarification, altered the judgment when it failed to enter a judgment based upon the stipulation of the parties. The actions taken in the case of Vigil v. Vigil, 118 Mich. App. 194, 324 N.W.2d 571 (1982), are instructive here. In that case, the trial court refused to allow defendant to present evidence of the parties' intent as to the meaning of an ambiguous term in a judgment which was based upon a settlement reached by the parties. The court recognized that in interpreting a judgment, the trial court will often need only look to its own findings of fact and conclusions of law to resolve an ambiguity. The court then stated that this familiarity rule only extends, however, to judgments resulting from the trial court's own decisions, and when the judgment is drafted by the plaintiff's counsel and not the trial court, resolution of the ambiguity in the judgment can only be had by reference to additional proofs. The case was remanded to allow the parties to present evidence as to the ambiguous term. The present case is very similar to Vigil in that a judgment which was ambiguous was entered pursuant to an agreement of the parties. In order to clarify the judgment, without altering the original intent that it conform to the agreement of the parties, it was necessary for the court to receive additional evidence of the parties' intent when they entered into the stipulation. The court failed to take such additional evidence in entering its judgment nunc pro tunc and this failure resulted in the complete change of the original judgment rather than a clarification of the same. The original judgment failed to reflect the exact date from which Cates and Eddy were liable to the bank for $207,110.55. This mistake was a clerical error, as opposed to the deliberate result of judicial reasoning and determination, and was therefore subject to clarification under Rule 60(a). The actions of the court in rendering the judgment nunc pro tunc, however, did not clarify the original judgment which was entered pursuant to the stipulation, but rather altered the original judgment from what was intended. In order for the original judgment to be clarified, evidence of the parties' intent when they entered into the stipulation must be taken. The judgment nunc pro tunc is set aside and the case remanded for further action which is not inconsistent with this opinion.