Craig v. Catlet

The only question in this case, is whether, on an enquiry of damages, in an action of slander, the defendant has a right to prove, in mitigation, the fact that “the plaintiff was and had for a considerable time been his enemy.”

Whatever diversity may appear in the adjudged cases, we have no doubt that, ever since the leading nisi prius case of Underwood vs. Park, reported in Strange, any fact that tends to show the motive for uttering slander, or the circumstances accompanying the publication of it, and which would not amount to a justification which should be pleaded, is admissible as…