Also known as: final decision · final judgment · final order
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A district court ruling that ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment. Such a ruling supplies the necessary predicate for appellate review in the courts of appeals.
After an indictment was returned, the trial court entered a final order dismissing the charges against Farid Farahani because the prosecution could not prove an essential element. The state later attempted to recharge him on the same facts. The final order necessarily determined an issue inconsistent with any future conviction, so the new prosecution is barred.
Farah Fox was acquitted of robbing one victim when identity was the sole contested issue at trial. The state then sought to prosecute her for robbing a second victim during the same incident. Because the acquittal resolved the ultimate fact of identity by a valid final judgment, the second prosecution is precluded.
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The district court dismissed every claim against Fairfield Bank while claims against the remaining defendants continued. Fairfield Bank filed a notice of appeal. The order qualifies as a final decision because it fully resolved the bank's rights and liabilities with nothing left for the district court to do concerning that party.
Frostline Textiles obtained a default judgment against Frank Fisher that awarded both the contract damages demanded in the complaint and an injunction never requested in the pleadings. The court must set aside the injunction portion because a default judgment cannot differ in kind from the relief demanded.
After a criminal jury convicted Finn Fletcher of the intentional killing of his aunt, the estate administrator sought to bar him from inheriting under the will. The final criminal judgment conclusively established Fletcher as the slayer in the civil proceeding without requiring a new trial on the killing.
The prosecutor offered a final judgment convicting Forrest Falconer of felony assault to prove that he used a dangerous weapon. The judgment followed a guilty plea to a crime punishable by more than one year in prison and was offered against the defendant to establish an element of the current charge.
An order is final when it ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the district court to do but execute the judgment. Partial dismissals or rulings that leave claims or parties unresolved do not qualify unless the court certifies them under Rule 54(b).
A final criminal conviction for the felonious and intentional killing conclusively establishes the defendant as the slayer in a civil action under the preponderance standard. No separate civil trial on the killing is required once the criminal judgment is final.
The judgment must follow a trial or guilty plea (not nolo contendere), concern a crime punishable by death or more than one year in prison, and be offered to prove a fact essential to the judgment. When offered by the prosecutor against the defendant, it may be used only for purposes other than impeachment.
Yes. When the order necessarily determines a fact or legal proposition inconsistent with conviction and has not been reversed or vacated, a subsequent prosecution for the same offense is barred even though no verdict was reached.
…Corp. v. Heitner , 361 A. 2d 225, 235-236 (1976). Thus, if the judgment below were considered not to be an appealable final judgment, 28 U. S. C. § 1257 (2), appellants would have the choice of suffering a default judgment or entering a general appearance and defending on the merits. This case is in the same posture as…