Strode v. Clement
Supreme Court of Virginia
Error to judgment of circuit court of Amherst county, rendered October 14, 1890, in an action for insults, wherein A. H. Clement was plaintiff and II. A. Strode was defendant.
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Error to judgment of circuit court of Amherst county, rendered October 14, 1890, in an action for insults, wherein A. H. Clement was plaintiff and II. A. Strode was defendant. It appears from the record that on the 1st of March, 1889, the parties entered into a contract to conduct a newspaper, owned by the defendant, called the New Era, which contract was to continue for one year from that date, but which was afterwards modified and extended till June 80, 1890. By the modified contract the plaintiff agreed to pay the defendant ten dollars a week for his interest under the contract, the…
1Opinion of the Court
Lewis, P.,
delivered the opinion of the court.
The question to be determined is whether the letter of the defendant to the plaintiff, upon which the action is based, is a privileged communication; and that depends (1) upon whether it was written on a privileged occasion ; and if so, then (2) upon whether the occasion was used bona fide and without malice.
Ordinarily the law implies malice from the use of words defamatory or insulting. But the presumption is the other way where the occasion of the publication.is privileged, and the onus is then upon the plaintiff to prove malice in fact. Where…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Klinck v. . ColbyNew York Court of Appeals · 1871
- Chaffin v. LynchSupreme Court of Virginia · 1887
- Chaffin v. LynchSupreme Court of Virginia · 1888
- Governor v. VanmeterSupreme Court of Virginia · 1837
3Cited by29 opinions
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- Montgomery Ward & Co. v. WatsonCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1932
- Rosenberg v. MasonSupreme Court of Virginia · 1931
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