White v. . Nellis
New York Court of Appeals
This was an action in the case for debauching the plaintiff’s minor daughter, and communicating to her a venereal disease, by which she was made sick and unable to labor.
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This was an action in the case for debauching the plaintiff’s minor daughter, and communicating to her a venereal disease, by which she was made sick and unable to labor. It was tried at the Oswego Circuit in December, 1856, and the plaintiff had a verdict for $500. The testimony of the daughter tended to show that she was seduced by the defendant while she was living at his house, and had frequent connections with him; that before she left his house she felt symptoms of the disease of which she was subsequently ill; that she left defendant’s on the 21st day of January, 1856, and went to…
1Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff was bound affirmatively to establish that the disease was communicated to his daughter by the defendant. To do this it would not be sufficient merely to show that defendant and two other persons had had sexual intercourse with her at about the same time, and within a few days prior to the development of the disease. That proof would make a case of conjecture only, that ought not to be submitted to a jury for the exercise of their ingenuity in guessing at possibilities. But there was some slight evidence from the girl tending to show that the symptoms of the disease were…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Clark v. FitchNew York Supreme Court · 1829
- Martin v. PayneNew York Supreme Court · 1812
- Ingersoll v. JonesNew York Supreme Court · 1849
3Cited by21 opinions
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- Lavery v. CrookeWisconsin Supreme Court · 1881
- Tischler v. DimennaNew York Supreme Court · 1994
- Lawyer v. . FritcherNew York Court of Appeals · 1891
- Petri v. Bank of New York Co.New York Supreme Court · 1992
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