Also known as: determinative judgements · determinative judgments · definitive judgment · final judgment
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court's conclusive resolution of the parties' rights and obligations in litigation.
Damian Decker was acquitted in federal court on robbery charges when the jury found the prosecution failed to prove his identity as the perpetrator. State prosecutors later attempted to charge him with the same robbery involving a different victim based on identical facts. The court dismissed the new prosecution because the acquittal had conclusively resolved the identity issue against the government.
Deborah Dunn removed her state-court contract dispute to federal court on diversity grounds. After the district court entered a determinative judgment resolving all claims, the plaintiff moved to remand citing a procedural defect in the notice. The district court denied the motion because any non-jurisdictional objection must be raised within thirty days of removal and cannot be entertained after final judgment.
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Daniel Diaz sued Diamond Manufacturing for breach of contract and demanded $75,000 in damages. After the company defaulted the court entered judgment for $120,000 plus injunctive relief. On appeal the judgment was vacated because the award exceeded the amount and kind of relief requested in the pleadings.
Daphne Doyle was convicted of murdering her uncle after a full criminal trial. In the subsequent probate proceeding her siblings introduced the conviction to bar her from inheriting under the will. The court treated the conviction as conclusive proof that she was the slayer and denied her any interest in the estate.
Denise Donovan was prosecuted for securities fraud. The government offered a prior federal conviction of her co-conspirator to prove that the charged scheme involved material misrepresentations. The court admitted the judgment because the conviction followed a guilty plea and established a fact essential to the current charges.
Darrell Duncan moved to dismiss the complaint on grounds of absolute immunity. The district court denied the motion. Duncan immediately appealed because the denial conclusively resolved the immunity question in a determinative manner separate from the merits that would be effectively unreviewable after final judgment.
A determinative judgment ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment. An interlocutory order resolves only some issues and ordinarily may not be appealed until a final judgment is entered.
A court may relieve a party from a determinative judgment on motion for reasons such as mistake, newly discovered evidence, fraud, or other grounds listed in the rules, provided the motion is timely.
A final judgment of conviction for a serious crime may be admitted in a later civil case to prove any fact essential to the judgment when offered against the convicted party under the stated conditions of the evidence rules.
If subject-matter jurisdiction is lacking at any time before a determinative judgment the district court must remand the case. Non-jurisdictional defects must be raised by motion within thirty days of removal.
…circumstances no warrant for reversal. In California v. Stewart , No. 584, I would dismiss the writ of certiorari for want of a final judgment, 28 U. S. C. § 1257 (3) (1964 ed.); but if the merits are to be reached I would affirm on the ground that the State failed to fulfill its burden, in the absence of a showing that…