Adams v. Rankin

CPIIEF JUSTICE DUVALL

delivered the opinion of the court :

This was an action for slander. The words alleged to have been spoken by the defendant of the plaintiff are these: “ He, the defendant, had had sexual intercourse with the plaintiff at divers different times.”

The Revised Statutes provide that a charge of incest, fornication, or adultery, against a female, shall be actionable; and in such cases the plaintiff shall not be held to allege or prove special damages. (1 Rev. Stat., sec. 1, p. 179.) This is a substantial re-enactment of the act of 1811 on the same subject; and it has been held,…