Rayne v. Taylor

Supreme Court of Louisiana
Rayne v. Taylor, 18 La. Ann. 26 (La. 1866)
Jones

Rayne v. Taylor

Opinion of the Court

Jones, J.

This is a libel suit. The defence was a justification of the truth of the facts, alleged in the petition to be libellous. Upon the trial, before a jury, the plaintiff obtained a verdict against the defendant for $11,820 01; which verdict, upon appeal, was set aside by this Court, upon the ground that the lower Court refused to instruct the jury : “ that, if the jury found, from the evidence, that the facts stated by the defendant in his answer were substantially true, there can be no verdict of damages against him.” Upon a second trial before a jury, after the cause was remanded, the defendant had the full benefit of this instruction; but, nevertheless, the jury again rendered a verdict against him for $7,500, from which this appeal was taken. C. C. Art. 1928 declares that, “in the assessment of damages, * * * in cases of offences, quasi-offences and quasi-contracts, much discretion must he left to the Court or jury.”

In the exercise of a sound legal discretion, we would be authorized to reduce the damages of a jury when excessive ; but the facts of this case do not warrant our interference in this respect.

Judgment is therefore affirmed, with costs.

Reference

Full Case Name
Robert W. Rayne v. David Taylor
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published