Billington v. Houston Fire & Casualty Ins. Co.

McDONALD, Chief Justice.

This is a slander suit. Appellant, who was the plaintiff in the court below, appeals from an instructed verdict in favor of the defendant.

In the petition on which plaintiff went to trial it was alleged that certain words were spoken, the words being enclosed within quotation marks. There was no pleading of innuendo, nor was there any pleading of special damage. Two principal questions are presented on appeal. The first is whether the words spoken were slanderous per se, and the second is whether, if the words were slanderous, the situation was clothed with a qualified…