Green v. Telfair
New York Supreme Court
THIS was an action for libel and slander. It was tried at the Greene circuit, in November, 1852. The plaintiff was the keeper of the Greene county poor-house. The defendant was county physician, and also a coroner of the county. On the morning of the 4th of March, 1852, one Rebecca Southard, an invalid pauper, was found dead in her cell. An inquest was held by the defendant, at the instance of one of the superintendents of the poor.
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THIS was an action for libel and slander. It was tried at the Greene circuit, in November, 1852. The plaintiff was the keeper of the Greene county poor-house. The defendant was county physician, and also a coroner of the county. On the morning of the 4th of March, 1852, one Rebecca Southard, an invalid pauper, was found dead in her cell. An inquest was held by the defendant, at the instance of one of the superintendents of the poor. The jury found that the deceased “ came to her death sometime in the night of the 8d day of March, 1852, in consequence of the cold in her cell, and of a want of…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Harris, J.
If seems to have been assumed upon the trial, that the article published by the defendant, if it was intended to apply to the plaintiff, was libelous. The plaintiff had expressly averred that it was published of and concerning himself. He had proved some facts tending to sustain that averment. Whether or not the matter contained in the publication was libelous, was/ indeed, a question for the decision of the court, but if libelous, it was for the jury, and not the court, to say whether it was applicable to the plaintiff'.
The allegation in the article which constitutes…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Van Vechten v. HopkinsNew York Supreme Court · 1809
3Cited by2 opinions
- Pittock & Mills v. O'NiellSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1870
- Woodruff v. . Bradstreet Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1889