Morrow v. Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Co.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort, against the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company, a corporation having a usual place of business in Lowell, and William M. Waterman of that city.
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Tort, against the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company, a corporation having a usual place of business in Lowell, and William M. Waterman of that city. The declaration contained three counts: the first, for libel in making, signing, and publishing a complaint to the Police Court of Lowell for concealing personal property sold upon a conditional sale; the second, for false imprisonment in consequence of the arrest of the plaintiff on the complaint; and the third, for malicious prosecution in making and prosecuting the complaint. The answer of Waterman was a general denial; the answer of…
1Opinion of the CourtBarker, J.
The exceptions to the ruling that the first count, which was for libel, and the second count, which was for assault and false imprisonment, could not be maintained, must be overruled.
Upon the evidence, the only publication of defamatory words was the making of the complaint to the police court; the only assaults and imprisonments were the arrest and detention of the plaintiff under due process of law. A complaint made to a court of competent jurisdiction in the regular course of justice, and containing no impertinent allegations, is not deemed an actionable libel. Kidder v. Parhhurst, 3…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Mulchey v. Methodist Religious SocietyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1878
- Langford v. Boston & Albany RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1887
- Coupal v. WardMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1871
- Dennehey v. WoodsumMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
- Mullen v. BrownMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1884
3Cited by9 opinions
- Owens v. GraetzelCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1926
- Schultz v. StraussWisconsin Supreme Court · 1906
- Laing v. MittenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
- Jackson v. KnowltonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1899
- Wingersky v. E. E. Gray Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1926
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