People v. Fuller

1. It is argued that the publication set out in the indictment does not charge Merriman with a criminal offense; that “filch” does not necessarily import a crime, and therefore it is not libelous per se; that the indictment should have charged whether that word was used with an innocent or criminal meaning, and that in the absence of such an allegation the court must construe the language in the harmless sense, and should hold that the pleader only intended to charge that it was used in an innocent sense. It is the established rule in this state that words brought into question in an action…