§ 1908.5.Allegation of conclusive judgment or order in pleadings; use as evidence

This section fixes where a conclusive judgment belongs procedurally: in the pleadings, not sprung as evidence at trial, whenever the party had the chance to plead it. If a judgment or order is conclusive under Section 1908, and the opportunity to allege it existed, the party has to raise it there, giving the opposing side fair notice of the preclusive effect being claimed.

The exception is narrow and practical: where no such opportunity existed, perhaps because the judgment issued after the pleadings closed, the judgment or order can instead be offered as evidence. The rule keeps parties from holding back a known, conclusive judgment and using it only if convenient later, while still allowing it to come in through evidence when pleading it was never possible.