McGaw v. Hamilton
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 111, Oct. T., 1897, by plaintiff, from order of C. P. No. 3, Allegheny Co., Aug. T., 1896, No. 180, refusing to take off nonsuit. Trespass for slander. Tlie facts appear by the opinion of the Supreme Court.
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Appeal, No. 111, Oct. T., 1897, by plaintiff, from order of C. P. No. 3, Allegheny Co., Aug. T., 1896, No. 180, refusing to take off nonsuit. Trespass for slander. Tlie facts appear by the opinion of the Supreme Court. At the close of plaintiff’s testimony, defendant moved for a nonsuit assigning as reasons: 1. That the record of the proceedings before alderman Madden has not been offered in evidence, and there is nothing in evidence showing that a suit was pending before him. 2. That it appears from the evidence that the remarks made by the defendant were made in the course of observations…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Mb. Justice Green,
This was an action to recover damages for a verbal slander. The words uttered charged that the plaintiff had sworn to a lie in a proceeding before an alderman. As they practically charged that the plaintiff had committed the crime of perjury, they were actionable per se, and implied malice. The defense was that they were spoken by the defendant as a member of a borough council, and in the course of a debate upon a matter in which the plaintiff was interested. It seems the plaintiff, who was a printer, had presented a bill for printing to a previous council •which…
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