Turner v. Stevens
Turner v. Stevens
Opinion of the Court
This action was instituted by the plaintiff to recover damages in consequence of the publication by the respondent of a circular consisting in part of the following language: “Prevaricators and Liars. Mr. Stevens: There have been two men here from Woolley, Lund and Judd. One by the name of Smith has come several times. They say the .Deering Company you represent is busted up. I told them I would ask you first, before I would believe it, as I had agreed to take a Deering binder. They offered to sell theirs a great deal less, and commenced to tell lots of lies about you, when I told them I had known you twenty years, and you would not deceive me like they were evidently trying to do, as I knew it was lies they were telling me. I think the other man’s name was Turner.” It appears from the evidence that in using the word “Turner” the defendant referred to the plaintiff; that the reference was so understood; and that the defendant distributed quite a large number of the circulars to various persons. The jury found the language complained of to be false, and the defendant guilty, and assessed plaintiff’s damages at $1,500. The defendant entered a motion for a new trial, and from the judgment of the court overruling it and upon the verdict the defendant has appealed, and insists that the damages are excessive.
The evidence does not disclose any justifiable motive for the libel, and defendant’s publication of it appears to have been deliberate and repeated, from the fact that it was distributed on different occasions. The damages awarded were to compensate the plaintiff for the injury to him from its publication. Sutherland, in his excellent work on Damages, says: “ There ought to be no difference, and in
The defendant also insists that a new trial should have been ordered on the ground of newly-discovered evidence. We are disposed to believe that the newly-discovered evi
The judgment of the court below is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FREDERICK TURNER v. SIDNEY STEVENS
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published