Desanto v. Denicola
Supreme Court of Connecticut
Action to recover damages for slander, brought to and tried by the City Court of New Haven, Hoyt, J.; facts found and judgment rendered for the plaintiff for $100, and appeal by the defendant.
1Opinion of the CourtWheeler, C. J.
The complaint alleged that the defendant spoke, in the presence of others, in Italian, . the following words, the complaint giving the Italian words and also what purports to be an English translation, viz: "Go on, you are a whore, you are a bum, both you and Battista DeSanto, and you can go and tell her so.”
Words imputing to a woman a breach of chastity are actionable per se, without further averment. Kennenberg v. Neff, 74 Conn. 62, 63, 49 Atl. 853. To charge one with being a whore, falls within this category. Charging one with being a "bum” is not actionable per se, unless by innuendo its…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Camp v. MartinSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1854
- Kennenberg v. NeffSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1901
3Cited by4 opinions
- O'Donnell v. Borough of GrotonSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1929
- Krall v. KrallSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1954
- Halliday v. CienkowskiSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1938
- Pearlstein v. DraizinNew York Supreme Court · 1947