Goucher v. Jamieson

The defendant has appealed from a verdict and judgment of $65 recovered by the plaintiff in a suit for assault and battery. The battery was not disputed, but the defendant claims that it was provoked by language used by the plaintiff derogatory to the defendant’s son, who appears to have picked some berries upon the plaintiff’s land. The plaintiff spoke to the defendant about it, and admits.that defendant said, “Do you call my son a thief?” while it is claimed upon the part of the defendant that plaintiff said, “Your boy Tom is a thief,” before any blows were struck.

A number of questions were…