Ross v. Lapham
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The declaration in this action was for slanderous words; alleging that the defendant had, at various times, charged the plaintiff with the crime of perjury.
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The declaration in this action was for slanderous words; alleging that the defendant had, at various times, charged the plaintiff with the crime of perjury. The general issue was joined, and at the trial thereof, before Jackson, J., at the last April term in this county, the defendant, by a motion in writing to the judge, offered to give in evidence, in mitigation of damages, “that the plaintiff constantly from his youth up had advanced, as the principle of his belief, that there is no God, that all existence is the effect of chance, that man perishes at his death like the trees, that he has…
1Per curiam
It is a strong argument against the admission of the evidence offered by the defendant at the trial of this cause, that, in the whole history of actions * for slander, of which the books are so full, this point does not appear to have been ever taken. Indeed, on principle, independent of the authority which the silence suggested implies, we think the evidence inadmissible. The words charged are in themselves actionable, and the jury are the proper judges of the damages. The evidence has no bearing on the temporal consequence of the crime. It would *241indeed be a singular defence, in a criminal…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Weston v. GravlinSupreme Court of Vermont · 1877
- Dewit v. GreenfieldOhio Supreme Court · 1831