If the record of a judgment show that it was rendered without service of process or appearance of the defendant, or if that fact can be shown without contradicting the re citals of the record, it will be treated as void in any other state ; Com. v. Blood, 97 Mass. 538; Hoffman v. Hoffman, 46 N. Y. 30, 7 Am. Rep. 299; McCauley v. Hargroves, 48 Ga. 50, 15 Am. Rep. 660. But this fact can not be shown in contradiction of the recitals of the record; Newcomb v. Peck, 17 Vt. 302, 44 Am. Dec. 340; Westervelt v. Lewis, 2 McLean, 511, Fed. Cas. No. 17,446 ; Wetherill v. Stillman, 65 Pa\ 105 ; contra, Norwood v. Cobb, 24 Tex. 551; Thompson v. Whitman, 18 Wall. (U. S.) 457, 21 L. Ed. 897. See Cooley, Const. Lim., 2d ed. 27. Nor will it be presumed to be void because of the ab sence of the return of service on the sum mons; Ferguson's Adm'r v. Teel, 82 Va. 690. A judgment is not less conclusive because rendered by default ; Hershman v. Knox County, 122 U. S. 306, 7 Sup. Ct. 1171, 30 L. Ed. 1152; but a default judgment is void unless service has been had according to law; Davidson v. Clark, 7 Mont. 100, 14 Pac. 663; Alderson v. Marshall, 7 Mont. 288, 16 Pac. 576; Furgeson v. Jones, 17 Or. 204, 20 Pac. 842, 3 L. It. A. 620, 11 Am. St. Rep. 808 ; Railway Co. v. Ryan, 31 W. Va. 364, 6 S. E. 924, 13 Am. St. Rep. 865 ; and a money judg ment against a non-resident defendant who is not personally served within the jurisdic tion, and who does not voluntarily appear, is void; Scott v. Streepy, 73 Tex. 547, 11 S. W. 532 ; Needham v. Thayer, 147 Mass. 536, 18 N. E. 429. In the leading case of Pennoyer v. Neff, it was held that a personal judg ment is without any validity, if it be render ed by a state court in an action upon a mon ey demand against a non-resident of the state, who was served by a publication of summons, but upon whom no personal serv ice of process within the state was made and who did not appear ; no title to property passes by a sale under an execution issued upon such a judgment; Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U. S. 714, 24 L. Ed. 565.
Matters of defence arising since the judg ment may be taken advantage of by a writ of audits querela, or, which is more usual, the court may afford summary relief on mo tion.
Although a judgment is vitiated by fraud it is not thereby rendered absolutely void; it is valid as between the parties to the fraud, and can be avoided only by a person injured by it; Webster v. Reid, Morr. (Ia.) 467; as where one holding a judgment against a railroad brought a suit to have another judgment, and a lease of the road to secure it, declared void for fraud, and ob tained a decree accordingly, it was held, that the decree did not affect the validity of the judgment and the lease as between the par ties thereto ; Graham v. R. Co., 3 Wall. (U. S.) 704, 18 L. Ed. 247.
All the judgments, decrees, or other or ders of courts, conclusive in their character, are under the control of the court which pronounced them during the term at which they are rendered or entered of rec ord, and may then be set aside, vacated, or modified by the court ; Harris v. State, 24
Neb. 803, 40 N. W. 317; Henderson v. Coal & Coke Co., 140 U. S. 25, 11 Sup. Ct. 691, 35 L. Ed. 332; but after the term has ended, unless proceedings to correct the errors al leged have been taken before its close, they can only be corrected by writ of error or appeal, as may be allowed in a court which by law can reverse the decision; Brooks v. R.'Co., 102 U. S. 107, 26 L. Ed. 91; St. Louis Public Schools v. Walker, 9 Wall. (U. S.) 603, 19 L. Ed. 650. To this rule there is an exception founded on the common-law writ of corkant nobis, which brought before the court where the error was committed certain mistakes of fact not put in issue or passed upon by the court, such as the death of one of the parties when the judgment was ren dered, coverture if a female party, infancy And failure to appoint a guardian, error in the process, or mistake of the clerk. But if the error was in the judgment itself, the writ did not lie. What was formerly done by this writ is now attained by motion and affidavits when necessary; Pickett v. Leger wood, 7 Pet (U. S.) 147, 8 L. Ed. 638. See Fielden v. People, 128 Ill. 595, 21 N. E. 584; Seiler v. Bank, 86 Ky. 128, 5 S. W. 536. A judge has the power to amend a record at any time, so as to make it speak the truth ; Brooks v. Stephens, 100 N. C. 297, 6 S. E. 81; Ex parte Henderson, 84 Ala. 36, 4 South. 284.
The general rule is that after the expira tion of the term all final judgments, etc., pass beyond the control of the court unless steps be taken during the term to set aside, modify or correct them ; Kingman v. Mfg. Co., 170 U. S. 675, 18 Sup. Ct. 786, 42 L. Ed. 1192; Tubman v. R. Co., 190 U. S. 38, 23 Sup. Ct. 777, 47 L. Ed. 946. But a judgment may always be reformed for the purpose of correcting computations in it after the term has ended ; A. J. Woodruff & Co. v. U. S., 154 Fed. 861. A court may amend its record of a judgment at a subsequent term to pre vent injustice through a mistake of the judge, or counsel, or the clerk, as by cor recting the wording of an order of dismissal which did not conform to the motion on which it was based; Bernard v. Abel, 156 Fed. 649, 84 0. C. A. 361.
A court which has once rendered a judg ment in favor of a defendant, dismissing the cause and discharging him from further at tendance, cannot, after the end of the term, without notice to the defendant, set that judgment aside and render a new judgment against the defendant ; such judgment is void and not entitled to credit in another state; Wetmore v. Karrick, 205 U. S. 141, 27 Sup. Ct. 434, 51 L. Ed. 745.
Equity will enjoin the enforcement of a judgment secured by perjury where the judg ment debtor used diligence, but failed to dis cover the perjury in time to be available at the trial ; Boring v. Ott, 138 Wis. 260, 119 N. W. 865, 19 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1080.
A joint judgment which is void as to one of the parties is void as to all ; 6 Mackey 548. A judgment against several persons, one of whom dies before its rendition, is voidable as to all; Claflin v. Dunne, 129 Ill. 241, 21 N. E. 834, 16 Am. St. Rep. 263.