Silvey v. United States

He who obtains a judgment in a court of law acquires property; which may be bought and sold; which the law regards as the highest evidence of debt; and which cannot be taken away from him through evidence newly discovered, unless the motion be in furtherance of justice and the evidence appear as conclusive as that through which the judgment was obtained. The granting of a new trial on newly-discovered evidence is, in one sense, discretionary with the court that awarded the judgment, for it is not the subject of judicial review. But to guard against the suspicions and prejudices of judges…