Commonwealth v. Damon
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Indictment, alleging that the defendant, on May 18, 1883, at Salem, “ contriving and unlawfully and maliciously intending to injure, vilify, and prejudice one John W. Hart, and to deprive him of his good name, fame, credit, and reputation, and to bring him, the said Hart, into great comtempt, scandal, infamy, and disgrace,” “ unlawfully did compose, write, print, and publish, and cause and procure to be composed, written, printed, and published ‘ in a certain newspaper then…
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Indictment, alleging that the defendant, on May 18, 1883, at Salem, “ contriving and unlawfully and maliciously intending to injure, vilify, and prejudice one John W. Hart, and to deprive him of his good name, fame, credit, and reputation, and to bring him, the said Hart, into great comtempt, scandal, infamy, and disgrace,” “ unlawfully did compose, write, print, and publish, and cause and procure to be composed, written, printed, and published ‘ in a certain newspaper then and there published by said Damon and called the Salem Evening News, a false, scandalous, and defamatory libel, in the…
1Opinion of the CourtField, J.
The motion to quash was rightly overruled. The publication complained of, even if the innuendo be considered as too broad, does convey the imputation that Hart, as city marshal, received presents for permitting persons to occupy the sidewalks of the city, and that he threatened the defendant with prosecution for obstructing the sidewalk, maliciously, because he had received no presents from the defendant.
The exceptions state that the defendant offered evidence to prove the truth of the allegations of the alleged libel; he thus attempted to bring himself within the protection of the PubSts. c.…
2Cases cited15 opinions
- Shailer v. BumsteadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
- Thayer v. ThayerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Commonwealth v. JacksonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
- Commonwealth v. CoeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1874
- Jordan v. OsgoodMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1872
10 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by17 opinions
- Commonwealth v. CapalboMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1941
- Lane v. MooreMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Tasker v. StanleyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1891
- Eldridge v. StateSupreme Court of Florida · 1891
- Conroy v. Fall River Herald News Publishing Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1940
12 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.