Barbee v. Hereford
Supreme Court of Missouri
Appeal from Livingston Circuit Court. 'The words charged are not actionable per se ; hence, malice should have been proved by respondent. (2 Greenl. Ev. 894, § 418.) The slanderous words charged in the. petition, with the aver-ments there made, impart malice per se, and express malice need not.be proved, for when words are actionable in themselves, malice is always implied.
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Appeal from Livingston Circuit Court. 'The words charged are not actionable per se ; hence, malice should have been proved by respondent. (2 Greenl. Ev. 894, § 418.) The slanderous words charged in the. petition, with the aver-ments there made, impart malice per se, and express malice need not.be proved, for when words are actionable in themselves, malice is always implied. As to malice implied, see Estes v. Antrobus, 1 Mo. 140 ; Weaver v. Hendrick, 30 Mo. 502. As to damages per se, when proper averments are made, see Palmer v. Hunter, 8 Mo. 512; McManus v. Jackson, 28 Mo. 56.
1Opinion of the CourtWaGNER, Judge
This was an action of slander, and the petition charges that the appellant falsely and maliciously, spoke of and concerning the respondent, and his evidence given in certain judicial proceedings therein referred to, the following words: “ Bill Bar-bee,” meaning plaintiff, “swore to a damned lie, and I can ■prove it,” meaning thereby to charge that the respondent had been .and was guilty of perjury. The answer is a simple denial. Werdict for plaintiff.
It is objected by appellant’s counsel that the court erred in refusing certain instructions asked by them. But this objection is not available.…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Pennington v. MeeksSupreme Court of Missouri · 1870
- McManus v. JacksonSupreme Court of Missouri · 1859
3Cited by6 opinions
- State v. AdamsSupreme Court of Missouri · 1882
- Carpenter v. HamiltonSupreme Court of Missouri · 1904
- State v. JohnsonSupreme Court of Missouri · 1883
- Shepard v. BrewerSupreme Court of Missouri · 1913
- State v. ScobeeSupreme Court of Missouri · 1914
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