Jones v. Murphy

Defendant Richard Murphy appeals a parentage order
finding him to be the biological father of Eric Jones, the youngest son of
plaintiff Julie Jones. Defendant asserts that the Orange Family Court was
without jurisdiction to consider plaintiff's parentage complaint against
him because: 1) a final divorce judgment between plaintiff and her
ex-husband Jeffrey Jones had determined that Mr. Jones had parental rights
and responsibilities for Eric; 2) a subsequent "amended" divorce order, in
which plaintiff and Mr. Jones acknowledged that he was not Eric's
biological father, was without effect because it was issued after the
expiration of the nisi period, and was neither an amendment to the
original judgment pursuant to V.R.C.P. 59(e), nor relief from the judgment
pursuant to V.R.C.P. 60(b); and 3) the compelling public interest in the
finality of paternity determinations requires us to apply the doctrine of
res judicata to the facts of this case.

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the Court's opinion.

We reject defendant's assertion that res judicata applies to this
case, but nonetheless reverse the trial court's order of parentage,
finding defendant to be the biological father of Eric Jones, because it
conflicts with an existing judgment of the Orange Family Court which found
Mr. Jones responsible for Eric's support.

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