Goodrich v. Reporter Pub. Co.

• Decision Date: 10 October 1946
• Docket Number: No. 4481.,4481.
• Citation: 199 S.W.2d 228
• Parties: GOODRICH v. REPORTER PUB. CO.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

199 S.W.2d 228

GOODRICH v. REPORTER PUB. CO.

No. 4481.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. El Paso.

October 10, 1946.

Rehearing Denied October 24, 1946.

Appeal from District Court, Reeves County; Henry Russell, Judge.

Action by William C. Goodrich against Reporter Publishing Company to recover damages for libel, wherein defendant interposed a special exception which was sustained and, plaintiff declining to amend, the court ordered suit dismissed, and the plaintiff appeals.

Reversed and remanded for new trial.

R. L. Toll and J. H. Starley, both of Pecos, for appellant.

T. J. McMahon and Dallas Scarborough, both of Abilene, for appellee.

PRICE, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from the judgment of the District Court of Reeves County. The plaintiff, Goodrich, sued defendant, Reporter Publishing Company, for libel. Defendant interposed a special exception to the petition, which was by the court sustained, and plaintiff declining to amend, the court ordered suit dismissed. The basis of plaintiff's action was an article published in the Abilene Reporter-News, a newspaper owned and published by defendant. This article was as follows:

"Knox Draft Board reclassifies 30

"Munday, June 9—(Spl)—Thirty

"Registrants were re-classified by the Knox County Local board this week.

"They included:

"Class 1-A: W. C. Dorsey and Glenn S. Riggins.

"Class 1-A (L): Douglas V. Hutcheson and Edward L. Hallmark.

"Class 1-C: William C. Goodrich

"PG 2 2—60 Pro-Nazi"

As to the following portion of such article that "Class 1-C: William C. Goodrich PG 2 2—60 Pro-Nazi it seemed did in fact constitute an accusation that plaintiff was a traitor to his country and was tantamount to accusing this plaintiff of being an agent of the enemies of the United States at a time when this country was at war with the Nazi or German Nation." The falsity of that portion of the article was alleged.

Defendant's special exception was in substance the allegation that a portion of the article was libelous per se was a conclusion of the pleader and no facts were alleged upon which to base the conclusion because there was no colloquium averred in said petition which connected the alleged defamation with plaintiff; further because the plaintiff's petition fails to consider the article as a whole because it affirmatively appears that said alleged defamatory words can not reasonably be applied to plaintiff.

Article 5430, Revised Statutes, 1925, defines a libel as follows:

"A libel is a defamation expressed in printing or writing, or by signs and pictures, or drawings tending to blacken the memory of the dead, or tending to injure the reputation of one who is alive, and thereby expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or financial injury, or to impeach the honesty, integrity, or virtue, or reputation of anyone, or to publish the natural defects of any one and thereby expose such person to public hatred, ridicule, or financial injury."

If the article complained of is a libel under the above definition and applied to plaintiff, then the trial court erred in sustaining the special exception and dismissing the suit. Guisti et al. v. Galveston Tribune, 105 Tex. 497, 150 S.W. 874, 152 S.W. 167; Times Publishing Co. v. Ray, Tex.Civ.App., 1 S.W.2d 471, affirmed Tex. Com.App., 12 S.W.2d 165.

In arriving at the meaning conveyed by the writer the writing should be considered as a whole. The end sought is the meaning conveyed to the ordinary reader. Guisti v. Galveston Times 105 Tex. 497, 150 S.W. 874, 152 S.W. 167; Express Publishing Co. v. Keeran, Tex. Com.App., 284 S.W. 913; Skillern v. Brookshire, Tex.Civ.App., 58 S.W.2d 544.

We think judicial notice may be taken of the classification 1-C applied to plaintiff in the article. In substance it is that plaintiff was either a member of the armed forces of the United States or honorably discharged therefrom, a cadet at West Point or...