Legal Opinion
M'Cauley v. Smith
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Decided March 15, 1805PublishedCited by 2 opinions
Motion to discharge the defendant on common bail. The action was brought for slanderous words, spoken of the plaintiff as an innkeeper. The words were, “ he robs the trav “ ellers’ horses of their oats, but charges the oats to the travel lers.” There was also a publication in the Aurora, on the same subject.
1Opinion of the Court
Per Cur.
Unless some special damage can be proved, or the *194] words spoken charge the defendant with a crime of *a gross nature, it is the course of the court uniformly, to discharge the defendant in slander, on common bail: and the defendant was discharged accordingly.