Kerr v. Force
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of District of Columbia
Action upon the case for a libel; pléa in justification, and general demurrer, and joinder. The declaration contains two counts.
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Action upon the case for a libel; pléa in justification, and general demurrer, and joinder. The declaration contains two counts. The first count, after averring the plaintiff’s good character, and denying that he had ever been guilty of fraud or forgery, recites, That whereas a certain Mrs. Moulton, or Mary G. Moulton had become indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of $125 for six months’ rent of the plaintiff’s house in Washington, which became due on the 15th of September, 1823; and being so in Ar-rear the plaintiff stated an account thereof on the 10th of December, 1823, and by warrant of…
1Opinion of the Court 1
November 27.
2Opinion of the Court · CranchCranch, C. J.
*20The gravamen of both counts in the declaration is, that the defendant charged the plaintiff with forgery, in the alteration of Mrs. Moulton’s note. If the words, under the circumstances stated in the declaration, are capable of the construction given to them by the plaintiff in his declaration, the defendant must justify them to that extent, and show in his plea a clear case of forgery. Cowp. 684. Whether the words are, under the circumstances, capable of that construction, is a question of law, to be decided by the Court. Starkie, 42, 44, 55. Whether the defendant used them in…
Also in this document: Opinion of the Court · Cranch.
3Cases cited4 opinions
- Marsteller and Others v. McCleanSupreme Court of the United States · 1812
- Douglass v. SatterleeNew York Supreme Court · 1814
- Bayard v. MalcolmNew York Supreme Court · 1806
- Sevey v. BlacklinMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1807
4Cited by5 opinions
- Morse v. Times-Republican Printing Co.Supreme Court of Iowa · 1904
- Cunningham v. UnderwoodCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1902
- Bickford v. DanielsSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1819
- Bennett v. American Art UnionThe Superior Court of New York City · 1852
- Pinson v. IveyTennessee Supreme Court · 1830