Burton v. Wharton

Opinion by

Judge Cofer :

The words charged are not per se actionable. They do not import criminality, and their meaning cannot be enlarged by alleging that the person speaking them intended to charge more than the words on their face import. Brown v. Piner, 6 Bush 518.

That the judge was influenced, by the words charged to have been spoken, to inflict upon the appellant greater or more ignominious *761punishment than he would otherwise have inflicted, presents an issue which public policy forbids that the appellant should be permitted to make. The motives or influences which operate upon the mind of…