McRaeny v. Johnson
Supreme Court of Florida
This was an action of trespass, brought in the Circuit Court of Leon County, by McRaeny, Trustee of Rebecca C. Williams, against William Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Wormley R. Moore and James G. Wells, claiming damages for a trespass which was alleged to have been committed by defendants, and which consisted in assaulting and beating a certain slave of plaintiff, so that he died. Defendants pleaded not guilty.
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This was an action of trespass, brought in the Circuit Court of Leon County, by McRaeny, Trustee of Rebecca C. Williams, against William Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Wormley R. Moore and James G. Wells, claiming damages for a trespass which was alleged to have been committed by defendants, and which consisted in assaulting and beating a certain slave of plaintiff, so that he died. Defendants pleaded not guilty. At the Fall term of the Circuit Court of said County, in the year 1847, the Hon. Thomas Douglas, Judge presiding, the case was argued and submitted to the jury, who found the following…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Justice Baltzell :
That the owner of a slave is entitled to damages from a wrong doer for an injury occasioning his death, is not denied ; but in the present case it is urged, that the trustee is not the proper person to bring the suit, nor trespass the form of action appropriate to such an injury. The slave, on whose account the action is instituted, is found by the jury in their special verdict to have been in the possession of a married woman, under a deed of trust constituting the plaintiff trustee ; and whether he can maintain the action, under such circumstances, is the…
2Cited by3 opinions
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- Soutter v. MillerSupreme Court of Florida · 1876
- McLeod v. BernholdSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1878