Kinney v. Hosea
Superior Court of Delaware
Capias case for slander. Narr. Pleas, not guilty and a special justification. The declaration set out in various counts, with different averments, a charge of setting fire to the Pennsylvania hall, in Philadelphia, a building belonging to Daniel Neall and adjoining a dwelling house.
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Capias case for slander. Narr. Pleas, not guilty and a special justification. The declaration set out in various counts, with different averments, a charge of setting fire to the Pennsylvania hall, in Philadelphia, a building belonging to Daniel Neall and adjoining a dwelling house. It charged that whereas, before the uttering the words by defendant, to wit: on 17th May, 1838, “a certain building known as and called the Pennsylvania hall, being the house of a certain Daniel Neall, situate in the city of Philadelphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to wit: at Sussex county aforesaid, was…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court:
Bayard, Chief Justice.
Plaintiff offers Purdon’s digest to prove the law of Pennsylvania on the subject of burning houses, which is objected to — 1st. Because it is not proper evidence of the law. 2d. That, if it were, the plaintiff would not be permitted to prove the law, because it is not averred in the declaration.
The law of slander is now well settled. Words to be actionable in themselves must impute a crime or misdemeanor, which would subject the party charged to an indictment for a crime involving moral turpitude, or subject him to an infamous punishment. (2 Leigh’s N. P.…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Pearsall v. DwightMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1806
- Biddis v. JamesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1814
- State v. StadeSupreme Court of Vermont · 1814
- Tarlton v. BriscoeCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1815