Templeton v. Graves
Wisconsin Supreme Court
APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Wauhesha County. Action for slander. The slanderous words alleged in the complaint to have been spoken by the defendant to the plaintiff were: “You area damn thief; you broke open a granary last fall and stole my wheat.”
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APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Wauhesha County. Action for slander. The slanderous words alleged in the complaint to have been spoken by the defendant to the plaintiff were: “You area damn thief; you broke open a granary last fall and stole my wheat.” In his answer, after a general denial, the defendant alleges by way of mitigation that if he spoke the words charged he did so without malice, and in the heat of passion caused by the fact that the plaintiff, just before he uttered them, had called him a 'bastard. On the trial the defendant amended his answer by adding thereto an averment…
1Opinion of the CourtEton, J.
1. The learned and ingenious counsel for the defendant devoted a considerable portion of his argument to an attack on the rule which allows punitory damages to be awarded in any action of tort, and he maintained that this court should overrule all of the cases heretofore adjudicated by it in which such damages were allowed. To this argument it is a sufficient answer to repeat what was said of the rule allowing punitory damages by the late chief justice in Bass v. C. & N. W. R'y Co., 42 Wis., 654: “ The rule was adopted as long ago as 1854, in McWilliams v. Bragg, 3 Wis., 424, and has been…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Bass v. Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1877
- Eviston v. CramerWisconsin Supreme Court · 1883
- McWilliams v. BraggWisconsin Supreme Court · 1854
- Rogers v. HenryWisconsin Supreme Court · 1873
3Cited by19 opinions
- Wangen v. Ford Motor Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1980
- Davis v. HearstCalifornia Supreme Court · 1911
- Topolewski v. Plankinton Packing Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1910
- Entzminger v. Ford Motor Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1970
- Luther v. ShawWisconsin Supreme Court · 1914
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