Etchison v. Pergerson
Supreme Court of Georgia
Slander. Justification. Privilege. New trial. Before Judge Harris. Heard superior court. March term, 1891. Action for words, by Mrs. Etchison against her brother Robert Pergerson. In the first count it was alleged that on September 16, 1889, the defendant falsely and maliciously said of the plaintiff: “ I caught Mely (meaning the plaintiff) and Lee (meaning W. C. Lee) in the woods together. I know she is guilty of adultery with Lee, for they have been too intimate.”
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Slander. Justification. Privilege. New trial. Before Judge Harris. Heard superior court. March term, 1891. Action for words, by Mrs. Etchison against her brother Robert Pergerson. In the first count it was alleged that on September 16, 1889, the defendant falsely and maliciously said of the plaintiff: “ I caught Mely (meaning the plaintiff) and Lee (meaning W. C. Lee) in the woods together. I know she is guilty of adultery with Lee, for they have been too intimate.” In the second count it was alleged that on November 2, 1889, the defendant, while giving his evidence before a committee of the…
1Opinion of the Court
Lumpkin, Justice.
1. Plaintiff below brought suit against her own brother for slanderous words imputing to her a disgraceful crime. The defence was that the words spoken were privileged communications, and toere true. If defendant spoke the truth of his sister in this case, it was not slander, and therefore it was not actionable to speak it. A plea of privilege, with proper allegations, is available and complete without averring the truth of the words spoken. The gravamen of a plea undertaking to combine both of these defences necessarily is that the words were true, and accordingly, such a…
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