Britton v. Gannon
Supreme Court of Oklahoma
285 P.2d 407 (Okla. 1955)
In an earlier Illinois lawsuit, Mark Gannon's brother Spike Gannon told defendant W.R. Britton he was only a nominal defendant and assured him no judgment would be taken against him, leading Britton to forgo any defense; the Illinois court nevertheless entered an $18,000 judgment against Britton in favor of Mark Gannon (plaintiff). When Mark Gannon sued to enforce that judgment in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma trial court refused to consider Britton's evidence of Spike Gannon's fraudulent assurances, ruling the full faith and credit clause barred reexamining the Illinois judgment's validity, and entered judgment for Gannon; Britton appealed.
Whether a defendant may assert a defense of extrinsic fraud in an action to enforce a foreign judgment, to prevent that judgment's enforcement in the collateral court.