Winkel v. Hankins

RALEIGH BROWN, Justice.

This is a slander case. John Hankins sued Norma Harris and Erwin C. Winkel for actual and exemplary damages because of their allegedly slanderous statements falsely accusing him of stealing $10,000 from the hospital where he was an employee and in which defendants had a financial interest. The jury found Harris and Wink-el each had made statements that Hankins had stolen $10,000, that the statements were false and were made with malice. The jury awarded $750,000 actual damages and assessed against each defendant $100,-000 exemplary damages. After Hankins voluntarily…