Beck v. Stitzel
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Northumberland county. This was an action of slander brought by Jacob Stitzel v. Samuel L. Beck. The plaintiff was one of the administrators of the estate of Adam Stitzel, deceased, and the words charged as have been spoken by the defendant and which were alleged to be slanderous, were, that “he, the said Jacob, had a room in which were two beds, and both beds were full of leather which he had smuggled away at the time of the appraisement.”
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Error to the Common Pleas of Northumberland county. This was an action of slander brought by Jacob Stitzel v. Samuel L. Beck. The plaintiff was one of the administrators of the estate of Adam Stitzel, deceased, and the words charged as have been spoken by the defendant and which were alleged to be slanderous, were, that “he, the said Jacob, had a room in which were two beds, and both beds were full of leather which he had smuggled away at the time of the appraisement.” In the declaration it was averred that the plaintiff had been legally appointed administrator, and had entered upon the…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered, by
Lowrie, J.
— There is only one question here that demands any special notice, and that is whether or not the words charged are *524actionable. The plaintiff below had been duly constituted administrator of his father’s estate, had had it appraised and had settled what appears to be a final account, and sixteen years after that, in 1849, the defendant charged him with having, at the time of the appraisement, secreted and smuggled away from the appraisers, two bed-fulls of leather of the estate. Is this actionable slander ?
If the answer depended upon the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Van Ankin v. WestfallNew York Supreme Court · 1817
3Cited by9 opinions
- In Re HatchCalifornia Supreme Court · 1937
- Williams v. Kroger Grocery & Baking Co.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1939
- In Re DampierIdaho Supreme Court · 1928
- Du Vall v. Board of Medical ExaminersArizona Supreme Court · 1937
- Davis v. CareySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1891
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