McDaniel v. Jordan

Hart, J.,

(after stating the facts). Under our statute, if any person shall falsely utter words which, in their common acceptation, shall amount to charge any person with having been guilty of fornication or adultery, such words, so spoken, shall be deemed slander, and shall be actionable as such. Crawford & Moses ’ Digest, § 2394.

In the construction of this statute it has been held that an oral charge of unchastity in a woman is actionable per se. Jackson v. Williams, 92 Ark. 486. The instructions of the court on this phase of the case were correct. It is contended, however, that the court…