Flanders v. Daley

• Decision Date: 10 August 1904
• Citation: 120 Ga. 885,48 S.E. 327
• Parties: FLANDERS v. DALEY.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

48 S.E. 327

120 Ga. 885

FLANDERS

v.DALEY.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Aug. 10, 1904.

WRIT OF ERROR—RECORD—DISMISSAL—SLANDER —PLEADING—PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION.

1. Where error is assigned on a judgment sustaining a demurrer, and no point is made on the form of the judgment, and the bill of exceptions recites that the demurrer was heard and sustained, the writ of error will not be dismissed because the judgment is not specified and transmitted as a part of the record.

2. A minister of the gospel is one following a profession, within the meaning of the law which makes a person liable, without proof of special damage, for words spoken of another in reference to his "profession, calculated to injure him therein." It is not necessary that such a minister should, at the time the words are spoken, be receiving compensation for his services.

¶2. See Libel and Slander, vol. 32, Cent. Dig. § 83.

3. An allegation that the words were spoken in reference to plaintiff's "office and profession of a minister of the gospel, [he] being then and there a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, " is a sufficient averment, as against a demurrer raising the objection that the plaintiff was not following a profession.

4. Whether or not words alleged to be slanderous were privileged would depend upon the circumstances under which, and the intention with which, they were spoken. If spoken in good faith, and in the performance of a private or public duty, either legal or moral, the speaker would not ordinarily be liable. In view of the allegations of the petition, the question of privilege is one which must be raised by plea, and submitted to the jury as an issue of fact.

5. The petition set forth a cause of action, and it was error to dismiss the same on demurrer.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Error from Superior Court, Johnson County; T. A. Parker, Judge.

Action by W. J. Flanders against A. F. Daley. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff brings error. Reversed.

This was an action of slander. The allegations of the petition were, in substance, as follows: On a date named, defendant maliciously used of and concerning plaintiff the following false and defamatory words: "I have always known that he [meaning plaintiff] was unfit for the ministry, and an improper person to be allowed to preach, and was too dangerous and indiscreet;" saying, also, that he had indorsed plaintiff, knowing him to be inefficient, for 18 years. These words were uttered at and during a quarterly conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South then being held in a named county, and in the presence of divers persons named. The words were spoken of plaintiff "in reference to his office and profession of a minister of the gospel, " he "being then and there a local preacher of the Methodist Church South, " and were calculated to injure, and did injure him, in his said office. The use of said words caused plaintiff to be deprived of his license as a local preacher, and to lose scholarships in a female college for his children; the value of such scholarships being alleged. The defendant filed a demurrer on the following grounds: (1) No cause of action is set forth; (2) the words are not actionable per se, and are not supported by allegations of special damage, or by such innuendo as would make them actionable; (3) there is no allegation that defendant knew the words to be false, nor that plaintiff was engaged in any profession, or that he has been damaged therein; (4) the allegations, taken as a whole, are too vague, uncertain, and indefinite, and the special damages alleged are too remote and speculative to be the basis of a recovery; (5) it is not alleged that plaintiff was a member of, or had a license as a local preacher in, any particular church, nor that the words used were in reference to his said office in the ministry in such church; (6) plaintiff sues in his private capacity, and alleges damage in a professional capacity; (7) the office of a local preacher is not a profession, within the meaning of the law upon which the suit is based, and plaintiff does not allege any special benefits accruing to him as a local preacher, or emoluments of any kind. The demurrer was sustained, and the petition dismissed, and the plaintiff excepted.

J. L. Kent and James K. Hines, for plaintiff in error.

A. S. Bussey, W. R. Daley, Wm. Faircloth, and A. L. Hatcher, for defendant in error.

COBB, J. 1. A motion was made to dis miss the writ of error upon the ground that the bill of exceptions did not specify the judgment complained of, and such judgment, had not been sent up as a part of the record. The bill of exceptions recites that the defendant demurred to the petition as amended, and that after hearing argument the court sustained the demurrer and dismissed the petition. The demurrer is specified, and sent up with...