Hill v. Duncan
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tout for slander alleged to have been spoken by the female defendant. Writ dated May 13, 1871. At June term 1871, James Duncan appeared in the Superior Court, and demurred on the ground that the action should have been brought against his wife alone, but Putnam, J., overruled the demurrer, the trial proceeded against both defendants, and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff.
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Tout for slander alleged to have been spoken by the female defendant. Writ dated May 13, 1871. At June term 1871, James Duncan appeared in the Superior Court, and demurred on the ground that the action should have been brought against his wife alone, but Putnam, J., overruled the demurrer, the trial proceeded against both defendants, and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff. James Duncan then moved in arrest of judgment, but the judge overruled the motion, and James Duncan alleged exceptions.
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
When this suit was commenced, the defendant James Duncan was at common law jointly liable with his wife for the *239tort therein alleged to have been committed by her. A right of action against them jointly was then vested in the plaintiff, founded on this liability, and his property was liable to be taken in satisfaction of the judgment that might be recovered.
The St. of 1871, c. 312, provides that “ any married woman may sue and be sued in actions of tort in the same manner as if. she were sole, and her husband shall not be liable to pay the judgment against her for damages or costs in any such…
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