Paton v. Great Northwestern Telegraph Co. of Canada
Supreme Court of Minnesota
Action in the district court for Beltrami county to recover $2,500 for the delivery and publication of a false and defamatory telegram. The answer alleged that the transmission and delivery of the telegram was privileged by law, and that the message did not in the course of transmission and delivery become known to any person except W. J. Patón, to whom it was addressed, and the employees of the telegraph companies who were necessarily engaged in its transmission.
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Action in the district court for Beltrami county to recover $2,500 for the delivery and publication of a false and defamatory telegram. The answer alleged that the transmission and delivery of the telegram was privileged by law, and that the message did not in the course of transmission and delivery become known to any person except W. J. Patón, to whom it was addressed, and the employees of the telegraph companies who were necessarily engaged in its transmission. The case was tried before Wright, J., who at the close of the evidence denied defendant’s motion for a directed verdict, and a…
1Opinion of the Court
Taylor, C.
Plaintiff recovered a verdict against defendant for transmitting and delivering a libelous telegram to plaintiff’s husband. Defendant appealed from an order denying its alternative motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial.
The material facts are not in dispute. At the time the libelous telegram was sent, plaintiff, a married woman, was postmistress at the village of Graeeton in the county of Beltrami, and her husband, W. J. Patón, was on a visit to his brother, Robert Patón, at Mirror in the province of Alberta, Canada. Defendant had a telegraph line which *432ex…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Peterson v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of Minnesota · 1896
- Peterson v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of Minnesota · 1899
- Peterson v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Supreme Court of Minnesota · 1898
3Cited by4 opinions
- Flynn v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1929
- Klein v. Western Union Telegraph Co.Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York · 1939
- James v. WarterSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1923
- Western Union Telegraph Co. v. LesesneCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1950