Legal Definitions - coram vobis

Coram vobis is a historical legal term referring to a specific type of legal request, known as a writ of error. Its purpose was to ask a court to correct its own judgment based on a significant error of fact that was not known to the court at the time the original judgment was made.

Unlike a typical appeal, which challenges legal errors or facts that were presented and decided during a trial, a writ of coram vobis focused on a factual mistake that, if known, would have prevented the original judgment from being issued. It was used to bring a critical, previously unknown fact to the court's attention, allowing the court to reconsider and potentially reverse its own decision.

While rarely used in modern legal systems, its underlying principle—seeking to correct a judgment based on newly discovered or previously overlooked critical facts—is now addressed through other legal procedures, such as motions for relief from judgment or similar post-conviction remedies.

Here are some examples illustrating how a writ of coram vobis would have applied:

• Mistaken Identity in a Civil Lawsuit: Imagine a court issues a default judgment against "Mr. David Miller" for an unpaid debt. Later, it is discovered that the summons and complaint were mistakenly served on a *different* Mr. David Miller who had no connection to the debt or the original transaction. The court, unaware of this mistaken identity, proceeded with the judgment.

  How it illustrates coram vobis: This situation involves a fundamental factual error (the wrong person was sued and judged) that was unknown to the court at the time it rendered its judgment. A writ of coram vobis would have been the appropriate mechanism to bring this critical, previously unknown fact of mistaken identity to the court's attention, allowing it to vacate the judgment against the innocent party.

• Undisclosed Death of a Party: Consider a scenario where a lawsuit proceeds, and a final judgment is entered against a defendant. It is subsequently discovered that the defendant had actually passed away *before* the judgment was rendered, but this crucial fact was not communicated to the court or the opposing party during the proceedings.

  How it illustrates coram vobis: The court issued a judgment against an individual who was legally deceased and therefore could not be a party to the lawsuit without proper substitution. This constitutes a fundamental factual error unknown to the court at the time of judgment, rendering the judgment voidable. A writ of coram vobis would have been used to inform the court of this critical, pre-existing fact, prompting it to reconsider the validity of its judgment.

• Clerical Error in Recording a Plea (Historical Context): In a historical legal setting, a defendant might have verbally entered a plea of "not guilty" to a criminal charge. However, due to a clerical error by the court's staff, the official court records incorrectly documented the plea as "guilty," leading to a conviction without a trial. The court itself was unaware of this discrepancy between the actual plea and the recorded plea.

  How it illustrates coram vobis: This example highlights a "default of the clerks" resulting in a factual error within the court's own records that directly impacted the judgment. The court, operating under the false premise of a guilty plea, proceeded to judgment without the proper legal process. A writ of coram vobis would have been the appropriate writ to bring this specific type of factual error to the court's attention for correction, as it was a fact unknown to the court that fundamentally altered the basis of its judgment.