Hooper v. Martin
| Decision Date | 31 July 1875 |
| Citation | 54 Ga. 649 |
| Parties | Alvin D. Hooper, plaintiff in error. v. William A. Martin,defendant in error. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Slander. Before Judge Rice. Banks Superior Court. April Term, 1875.
Hooper brought complaint against Martin for damages sustained by reason of the defendant's saying of and concerning the plaintiff the following false and malicious words, to-wit: "1 want to sleep in my house to-night, " meaning his (Martin's) dwelling house, the same being situate on a farm, not in *a city, town or village; (meaning your petitioner) "standing at the road holding a torch for him, " thereby meaning that the said John Perkins had set fire to said dwelling house, and that he attempted to burn said dwelling-house; and further meaning that your petitioner was present aiding and abetting the act to be done, wherefore he prays process, etc.
On demurrer, the case was dismissed, and plaintiff excepted.
G. M. Netherland, for plaintiff in error.
J. B. Estes, by J. F. Langston, for defendant.
The words imputed a felony to Perkins as principal in the first degree, and to Martin as principal in the second degree: Code, sections 4305. 4309, 4378, 4382, 4712. That being so, they were actionable, perse: Ibid., section 2977, at the instance of either. We can have no reasonable doubt that the utterer of such words would mean to produce the impression on his hearers that Perkins had attempted to burn the speaker's dwelling house, and that Martin was his accomplice in the evil deed. And we think his hearers, most or all of them, would so understand him. They would recognize that as the fair and natural import of his language.
Judgment reversed.
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King v. Page
...to prosecute him for it, " imputes to plaintiff a crime punishable by law, and is actionable per se. Civil Code 1910, § 4433; Hooper v. Martin, 54 Ga. 649; Roberts v. Ramsey, 86 Ga. 432, 12 S. E. 644. The amendment to the petition cured all defects pointed out by the special demurrer, and t......
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Cobb v. State
...Tiller & Howard, of Atlanta, and Fred B. Davis and Oliver & Oliver, all of Savannah, for the State. GRICE, Justice. The case of Hooper v. Martin, 54 Ga. 648, 650, evidently cited by the Court of Appeals through inadvertence instead of the case of Harrell v. Word, 54 Ga. 649. Counsel for the......
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King v. Page
...going to prosecute him for it," imputes to plaintiff a crime punishable by law, and is actionable per se. Civil Code 1910, § 4433; Hooper v. Martin, 54 Ga. 649; Roberts Ramsey, 86 Ga. 432, 12 S.E. 644. The amendment to the petition cured all defects pointed out by the special demurrer, and ......