Mankleton v. Lilly

The action is slander. On the default of the defendants to answer the complaint judgment was directed for the plaintiff, and a writ of inquiry was issued to the sheriff of Cayuga county to proceed to assess the damages. The jury made their inquisition, by which the plaintiff’s damages were assessed at fifty dollars. The plaintiff’s motion to set aside, the inquisition is founded mainly upon the ground that incompetent evidence offered on the part of the defendants was received, and that by it the plaintiff was prejudiced.

The only subject of inquiry was the amount of damages suffered by the…