Ex Parte Johnson

Kenneth Lance Johnson petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the Mobile Circuit Court to vacate its order granting his former wife's motion to set aside their divorce judgment. We grant the writ.

On December 8, 1995, Johnson, a professional baseball player, was divorced from his wife, who resumed the use of her maiden name — Sharon J. Brown; the divorce judgment incorporated an agreement dividing their marital property. On January 5, 1996, 28 days after the entry of the judgment, Ms. Brown filed a motion entitled "Motion to Set Aside the Judgment"; that motion read as follows:

"Comes now…