Hammer v. Forde
| Decision Date | 06 March 1914 |
| Docket Number | 18,511 - (289) |
| Citation | 145 N.W. 810,125 Minn. 146 |
| Parties | H. H. HAMMER v. ALBERT FORDE |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Action in the district court for Fillmore county to recover $10,000 for libel. From an order, Kingsley, J., sustaining defendant's demurrer to the complaint, plaintiff appealed. Affirmed.
Libel -- allegations in pleadings.
1. Allegations in a pleading are privileged and cannot serve as a basis for a libel suit, unless it clearly appears that the same were not pertinent, material, or relevant to the controversy in litigation. All doubt should be resolved against a contention that the privilege has been exceeded.
Demurrer sustained.
2. Under this rule the demurrer to the complaint herein was properly sustained.
F. A Duxbury and L. L. Duxbury, for appellant.
John W Hopp and J. C. White, for respondent.
In this action for libel it is alleged that defendant, in his complaint in a suit against the village of Mabel for creating and maintaining a private nuisance, stated and published, of and concerning this plaintiff, these false and defamatory words: "That at the time of signing and making of said lease (meaning lease between said Hadley Larson and said village of Mabel) the lessor (meaning the said Hadley Larson) and the said H. H. Hammer (meaning this plaintiff) entered into and made said lease with personal malice and the avowed intention of injuring the property of the plaintiff herein." The complaint wherein this libel is alleged to have been published is attached to and made a part of the complaint herein. Plaintiff appeals from the order sustaining a demurrer to his complaint.
Accusations contained in pleadings and judicial proceedings are generally privileged, provided the matter is pertinent and material or relevant to the issues involved. Sherwood v. Powell, 61 Minn. 479, 63 N.W. 1103, 29 L.R.A. 153, 52 Am. St. 614. In order that every one may feel free to seek justice, he should be allowed to state his cause of action or defense fully to the court without fear of being subjected to a lawsuit for so doing, unless he clearly abuses the privilege. Therefore courts are prone to be liberal in considering the pertinency or materiality of the matters stated in a pleading in case of an attempt to use the same as a foundation for a libel suit. "When a question of relevancy and pertinency of matters alleged in pleadings are to be inquired into, all doubt should be resolved in favor of relevancy and pertinency," Kemper v. Fort, 219 Pa. St. 85, 67 A. 991, 13 L.R.A. (N.S.) 820, 123 Am. St. Rep. 623, 12 Ann. Cas. 1022. It is not important that the one claimed to have been libeled was not a party to the suit, provided some fair legal basis may be suggested for the materiality of the allegations concerning him.
Testing the alleged libel contained in the complaint served by this defendant, Mr. Forde, in his suit against the village of Mabel we have this situation: The village was charged with leasing from the owner, Hadley Larson, land for the wrongful purpose of thereon creating a nuisance seriously injuring the adjoining premises of Mr. Forde. It is alleged that H. H Hammer executed the lease in behalf of the village, and then follows the alleged libel above set out. Hence, so far as the complaint against the village is concerned, plaintiff herein acted for the village in selecting the dump and making the lease therefor. It would have served the pleader's object equally well to have alleged the unlawful and wanton intention of the village to injure Mr. Forde without naming the parties through whom it acted. But, if the intention and animus of the agents of a municipal corporation be admissible in evidence when such intention and animus is charged directly against the corporation, it would seem neither impertinent nor irrelevant to plead the facts with reference to such agents through whom the purpose of the village was made manifest. It is to be observed that in selecting dumping grounds and creating a nuisance, such as...
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