State ex rel. Smith v. Thomas

HOLMES, Judge.

This is a petition for a writ of mandamus.

In October 1986 the family court determined Willie James Thomas to be the father of Jessica Wyoma Smith. No appeal was taken from this order.

In October 1987 Thomas filed in the family court a motion under Rule 60(b), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, to set aside the prior judgment, alleging that he was not represented by counsel at the paternity proceeding and that he had newly discovered evidence concerning the true identity of the child’s father.

After a hearing the family court denied Thomas’s Rule 60(b) motion. Thomas appealed to the…