Keegan v. Sage

In a complaint for breach of promise, the plaintiff says that “she was, and ever had been, chaste, and a virgin.” The defendant denies the allegation, and asserts affirmatively that she has led a profligate life. The paragraph containing this portion of the answer the plaintiff moves to strike out, as irrelevant, redundant, and scandalous. Obviously, if the allegation in the complaint be material, a denial of it can be neither irrelevant, redundant, nor scandalous. Dovan v. Dinsmore, 33 Barb. 36. On the other hand, if the allegation be immaterial, its insertion in the complaint entitles the…