Bradley v. Gibson
Supreme Court of Alabama
Error to the Circuit Court of Montgomery. Action on the case, by Gibson against Bradley, for speaking and publishing slanderous words. The words alledged io have been spoken, charged the plaintiff with being a hog .ithief, and that he runaway from Mississippi for stealing hogs, and that the plaintiff could prove it.
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Error to the Circuit Court of Montgomery. Action on the case, by Gibson against Bradley, for speaking and publishing slanderous words. The words alledged io have been spoken, charged the plaintiff with being a hog .ithief, and that he runaway from Mississippi for stealing hogs, and that the plaintiff could prove it. At the trial, upon the issue of not guilty, the defendant in mitigation of damages, offered to prove it was a common report in the neighborhood, where plaintiff, Gibson, lives, that he had been accused of stealing hogs in Mississippi, and that he had left Mississippi for that…
1Opinion of the CourtGoldthwaite, J.
In actions of slander, the general character of the plaintiff may always be shown by the defendant, under the general issue, for the plain reason, that compensation is demanded for its injury, and if it be worthless, or indifferent, it is proper for the jury to know it, to make a correct estimate of the damage it has sustained. This is the conceded rule in the American courts. See cases cited by -plaintiff; also, Bodwell v. Swann, 3 Pick. 376. In the present case, the effort does not seem to have been to show what character the plaintiff actually sustained where hedived, but to induce the…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Mapes v. WeeksNew York Supreme Court · 1830
- Teague v. WilliamsSupreme Court of Alabama · 1845
- Kennedy v. DearSupreme Court of Alabama · 1837
- Commons v. WaltersSupreme Court of Alabama · 1835
3Cited by4 opinions
- Fuller v. DeanSupreme Court of Alabama · 1858
- Pope v. Welsh's Adm'rSupreme Court of Alabama · 1851
- Shelton v. SimmonsSupreme Court of Alabama · 1847
- Dame v. KenneySuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1852