Kenworthy v. Brown
New York Supreme Court
Action for slander. Trial of an issue of law on a demurrer to the complaint on the ground that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The allegation of the complaint is that the defendant spoke of the plaintiff as follows: “ You are only a low woman, you are a half negress innuendo, thereby imputing unchastity to her.
1Opinion of the Court
Gaynor, J.:
Hemmens v. Nelson (138 N. Y. 517) is not in point. The trpuble there was that the complaint did not contain an innuendo, which is always necessary in the case of words capable of two meanings, one slanderous and the other not. In such cases the slanderous meaning must be singled out and alleged by an innuendo, i. e., a special allegation of the complaint. This is only a question of pleading. The present case is different. There is an innuendo alleging the meaning of the words to be an imputation of unchastity. The question therefore is whether the words are capable of such a…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Hemmens v. . NelsonNew York Court of Appeals · 1893
3Cited by2 opinions
- MacIntyre v. FruchterNew York Supreme Court · 1914
- Payne v. TisdaleCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1921