Wilson v. Barton

Upon the charge that the defendant unlawfully assaulted and killed his wife, Daisy Page Barton, her administrator sued to recover damages for her death, for the benefit of the next of kin. The trial judge sustained the defendant’s demurrer to the declaration, holding that no right of action exists for the tort committed by one spouse against the other during coverture, The plaintiff appealed and insists that the effect of the Married Woman’s Act was to change the common-law doctrine which denied that right of recovery in actions by one spouse to recover for tort committed during the marital…