Hays v. Mitchell

— Slander by Mitchell and wife against Hays and wife. Among the words laid in the declaration are the following: “You hooked my geese,” innuendo, that the wife of Mitchell had stolen defendant’s geese. Plea, general issue; verdict and judgment for the plaintiffs.

The Court charged the jury, in substance, that the above words were actionable in themselves, and, if proved, would sustain the action, unless it appeared from all the circumstances of the case they were spoken in an innocent sense.

We think this instruction was erroneous. The common and ordinary meaning of the word “ hook ” is not…