Merritt v. Dearth
Supreme Court of Vermont
Slander. Plea, the general issue, and trial by jury, December Term, 187 ±, Ross, J., presiding, and verdict for plaintiffs.
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Slander. Plea, the general issue, and trial by jury, December Term, 187 ±, Ross, J., presiding, and verdict for plaintiffs. The case was tried upon the following amended declaration: For that whereas the said Martha Merritt, the wife of said John Merritt, plaintiff, now is a chaste woman, and from the time of her nativity hath been so, and hath been accounted, esteemed, and reputed as such among her neighbors, as well as of good reputation and fame by all other good people, and hath all her lifetime continued chaste and unsuspected of the atrocious crime of adultery; and whereas also the said…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Redfield, J.
After verdict for the plaintiff, the defendant moved in arrest of judgment for the insufficiency of the declara*67tion. The case was tried on the amended declaration in two counts. This declaration is novel, and if sufficient, even after verdict, on which to found a judgment, it must be a relief to those of the profession who do not care to bo troubled about matters of pleading.
The first count alleges, by way of prefatory averment, that Martha Merritt was chaste, and had been from her nativity; nevertheless the defendant, maliciously intending…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Haselton v. WeareSupreme Court of Vermont · 1836
3Cited by3 opinions
- Wilcox v. MoonSupreme Court of Vermont · 1891
- Sheridan v. SheridanSupreme Court of Vermont · 1886
- People v. KeithleyAppellate Court of Illinois · 1910