Chase v. Whitlock
New York Supreme Court
Demurrer to declaration in slander. In the first count the words were, “ Chase is a black-leg and swindler; here is Stephen Potter’s letter to confirm it.” Innuendo, that the said plaintiff had been guilty of the crime of swindling. Second count, “ Chase is a black-legged swindler; his agent refused to do his business on that account; here is Potter’s letter which I will show you confirming the fact.”
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Demurrer to declaration in slander. In the first count the words were, “ Chase is a black-leg and swindler; here is Stephen Potter’s letter to confirm it.” Innuendo, that the said plaintiff had been guilty of the crime of swindling. Second count, “ Chase is a black-legged swindler; his agent refused to do his business on that account; here is Potter’s letter which I will show you confirming the fact.” Innuendo, that the plaintiff had been guilty of the crime of swindling, and the defendant was so understood by the said good people [who heard the words.] Demurrer and joinder.
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Bronson, J.
There is no' colloquium of obtaining goods by false pretences, nor is there any thing else to show that the words were used in any other than their ordinary sense. Swindling is not a crime known to our law. The word swindler is an exotic, which came from Germany, and has but recently become naturalized in our language. In Todd’s Johnson, swindler is defined to be “ a sharper; a cheat j” and to swindle, “ to cheat; to impose upon the credulity of mankind, and thereby to defraud the unwary by false pretences and fictitious assumptions.” Webster defines swindler as u a…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Stevenson v. HaydenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1807