Court Opinion

ID: 9550421
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:35:02.283299+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:31.187104
License: Public Domain

RANSOM, Justice (dissenting). The actions of the defendant did not constitute a “fraud upon the court,” which is to be distinguished from ordinary fraud or fraud between the parties. The distinction is necessary in light of SCRA 1986, 1-060(B)(3) (commonly known as Rule 60(B)(3)), which contains a one-year limitation in which to reopen a judgment procured by fraud, other than fraud upon the court. See Parks v. Parks, 91 N.M. 369, 574 P.2d 588 (1978) (Rule 60(B)(6) may not be used to circumvent the one-year time limit as contemplated in Rule 60(B)(3).). As noted in Jemez Properties, Inc. v. Lucero, 94 N.M. 181, 184 n. 1, 608 P.2d 157, 160 n. 1 (Ct.App.1979), cert. denied, 94 N.M. 628, 614 P.2d 545 (1980), fraud upon the court is limited to that species of fraud which does or attempts to defile the court itself, or is a fraud perpetrated by officers of the court so that the judicial machinery cannot perform in the usual manner. Usually, only the most egregious misconduct, such as bribery of judges, employment of counsel to “influence” the court, bribery of the jury, or the involvement of an attorney in the perpetration of the fraud constitutes fraud upon the court. Id.; see also Great Coastal Express, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffers, Warehousemen and Helpers, 675 F.2d 1349 (4th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1128, 103 S.Ct. 764, 74 L.Ed.2d 978 (1983). Instead of finding fraud upon the court, the Jemez Properties, Inc., court ruled that forging of a deed and tampering with public records in the county clerk’s office established an exceptional circumstance which permitted invocation of Rule 60(B)(6), which provides a reservoir of equitable power to do justice in a given case. 94 N.M. at 184, 608 P.2d at 160. Another criterion for fraud upon the court is that the acts of the adverse party have to be such as prevent the losing party from fully and fairly presenting his case or defense. See Keys v. Dunbar, 405 F.2d 955 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 880, 90 S.Ct. 158, 24 L.Ed.2d 138 (1969). Finally, to have a judgment set aside on the ground of fraud upon the court it is necessary to show that there was an unconscionable plan or scheme which was designed to influence the court in its decision. See Hazel-Atlas Glass Co. v. Hartford-Empire Co., 322 U.S. 238, 64 S.Ct. 997, 88 L.Ed. 1250 (1944), overruled on other grounds, Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 429 U.S. 17, 97 S.Ct. 81, 50 L.Ed.2d 21 (1976). Courts confronting the issue of fraud upon the court consistently have held that perjury or fabricated evidence are not grounds for such fraud. “Perjury and fabricated evidence are evils that can and should be exposed at trial and the legal system encourages and expects litigants to root them out as early as possible. Fraud on the court is therefore limited to the more egregious forms of subversion of the legal process.” Great Coastal Express, Inc., 675 F.2d at 1357. Where there is no allegation of an attorney involved in perjury and no evidence to suggest that the normal, impartial operation of the court that heard the original action was interfered with in any way by a party’s fraud, perjury by a party of the original action does not constitute fraud upon the court. See Travelers Indem. Co. v. Gore, 761 F.2d 1549 (11th Cir.1985). “Perjured testimony and false evidence obviously interfere with the court’s role in discovering the truth. That alone does not, however, ‘defile the court itself’.” Great Coastal Express, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffers, Warehousemen and Helpers, 86 F.R.D. 131, 137 (E.D.Va.1980), aff'd 675 F.2d 1349 (4th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1128, 103 S.Ct. 764, 74 L.Ed.2d 978 (1983); see also Porcelli v. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co., 78 F.R.D. 499 (E.D.Wis.), aff'd without opinion, 588 F.2d 838 (7th Cir.1978). In the case at bar, the defendant now has testified that, to support his claim of excusable neglect in a motion to set aside a default judgment, he had concocted a story of how the summons became hidden under a couch on his front porch. It was on the strength of that story that he prevailed on appeal. See Moya v. Catholic Archdiocese, 92 N.M. 278, 587 P.2d 425 (1978). One or the other of his stories, that he did or did not receive the summons, is a falsehood. However, the perjury involved falls short of fraud upon the court. In Hazel-Atlas Glass Co., the deliberately planned and executed scheme involved attorneys for Hartford-Empire authoring a false magazine article that they used to support their action for patent infringement in both the patent court and in the court of appeals. Moreover, in deciding for Hartford-Empire, the court of appeals quoted copiously from the spurious article. In his dissent in Great Coastal Express, Inc., Judge Butzner expressed in his analysis of Hazel-Atlas Glass Co., with which the majority opinion would not take issue, that proof of two elements is required to establish fraud on the court for the purpose of setting aside a civil judgment when the court itself has not been compromised by bribery or corruption. “The first is that the judgment involves an issue ‘of great moment to the public.’ A dispute that concerns only private litigants is not enough.” Great Coastal Express, Inc., 675 F.2d at 1364 (Butzner, J., dissenting) (citations omitted). The second requirement is that a deliberately planned and carefully executed scheme be perpetrated to defraud the court. Id. There is no question that the defendant at some time lied to this Court. However, we should not broaden the narrow construction given to “fraud upon the court” and hold that the defendant’s conduct in this case rises to the level of such fraud. In doing so, we may effectively abrogate the distinction between ordinary fraud and fraud upon the court, thereby making every perjury case a fraud upon the court. I would remand for the trial court to decide under Rule 60(B)(6) whether exceptional circumstances exist in connection with the perjury and, if so, to decide which tale was indeed the fabrication.