State ex rel. G.J. v. W.J.

HORNSBY, Chief Justice.

We granted W.J.’s petition for a writ of certiorari to the Court of Civil Appeals to review the propriety of granting Rule 60(b), Ala.R.Civ.P., relief from a prior paternity adjudication. The trial court granted the relief in 1991, after an advisory jury found that W.J. was not the father of a child born out of wedlock to G.J.; the trial court set aside a 1981 paternity adjudication. The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the trial court’s order, holding that the doctrine of res judicata bars the relitigation of paternity in this case. 622 So.2d 353.

The record shows that…