Manasco v. Walley
| Decision Date | 23 February 1953 |
| Docket Number | No. 38648,38648 |
| Citation | 63 So.2d 91,216 Miss. 614 |
| Parties | MANASCO v. WALLEY. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Collins & Collins, Laurel, Frank Clark, Waynesboro, Wyatt Churchwell, Leakesville, for appellant.
Melvin, Melvin & Melvin and David Gross, Laurel, for appellee.
Ben Walley, as plaintiff, recovered a judgment against W. E. Manasco, doing business as 'The Greene County Herald', defendant, in the circuit court of Greene County, and from the judgment the defendant prosecutes this appeal.
The plaintiff's action was an action for damages for defamation based upon the provisions of Section 3175, Code of 1942. The plaintiff's cause of action arose out of the publication of an editorial in 'The Greene County Herald' on March 23, 1951, criticizing the action of the plaintiff as a member of the State House of Representatives in voting for a bill, which was passed at the 1949 Extra Session of the Legislature, providing for a redesignation of the highways on the state highway system, and providing for the removal from the list of state highways of approximately 5,000 miles of roads which had been theretofore designated as state highways, including the Leakesville-State Line highway in Greene County.
The plaintiff alleged in his declaration that at the time of the publication of the above mentioned editorial the plaintiff was a candidate for reelection to the office of State Representative in the Democratic primary election to be held during the month of August; that the editorial reflected upon the plaintiff's honesty and integrity and moral character, and that the defendant thereafter refused, when requested to do so, to publish a statement by the plaintiff giving the plaintiff's reply to the statements contained in the editorial complained of; and that as a result of the printing of the editorial and the refusal of the defendant to publish the plaintiff's reply the plaintiff had been damaged in the sum of $25,000.
The newspaper article complained of was set forth in full in the plaintiff's declaration and was as follows:
'Listening Around With Ye Editor
'Short Item of Interest to Citizens and Tax Payers of Greene
'We may be 'old fashioned' in our way of thinking, but believe that the only way you can build highways is to get them on the 'priority list' while the state legislature is in session, and then they can be built when money is available for them. Highway 63 and Leakesville-State Line highways were on 'priority' and during the 1950 session of the state legislature Greene County Representative Ben H. Walley had them taken off this list and they cannot be worked or paved now.
'If Representative Walley wanted to serve Greene County's best interests, why was these highways removed from
The defendant in his answer admitted that he had published the editorial, but denied that the editorial reflected in any way upon the honesty, integrity or moral character of the plaintiff; and the defendant denied that he was under any obligation to publish the plaintiff's reply; and the defendant denied that the plaintiff had been damaged as a result of the publication of the newspaper article.
On the trial in the circuit court the defendant was called as an adverse witness to testify for the plaintiff. The defendant testified that he was the owner and editor of 'The Greene County Herald', and that he had written and published the editorial complained of. The defendant admitted that soon after the publication of the editorial the plaintiff had prepared and requested him to publish a reply, and that he had refused to publish the reply, giving as his reason therefor that he did not have sufficient space for the publication of same in his newspaper.
The plaintiff, testifying in his own behalf, stated that he was thirty-seven years of age and had been engaged in the practice of law at Leakesville since 1946; that he had served four years as a member of the State House of Representatives from Greene County; and that at the time of the publication of the above mentioned newspaper article he was a candidate for reelection and had one opponent. The plaintiff was questioned in particular by his own attorney about the statement that 'Highway 63 and Leakesville-State Line highways were on 'priority', and during the 1950 session of the state legislature Representative Ben H. Walley had them taken off this list.' And in answer to the question, Walley stated that there was no such thing as a 'priority list', and that he had not taken the above mentioned roads off the 'priority' list. He was then asked about the next succeeding statement, 'If Representative Walley wanted to serve Greene County's best interest, why were these highways removed from 'priority'?' And in answer to that question, he stated that he considered that statement a reflection upon his honesty, integrity and moral character and his fitness to serve the people of his county as a representative in the state legislature.
The plaintiff then stated that State Highway No. 63 had been placed on the state highway system, as a road in the second group of state highways, by Chapter 190 of the Laws of 1936, and had remained on the secondary system of state highways until the enactment of Chapter 6 of the Laws of Mississippi, Extraordinary Session of 1949; that under the provisions of that act all differences in the classification of state highways were eliminated; and that State Highway No. 63 still retained its status as a state highway under the new act. He stated that the Leakesville-State Line road had been placed on the state highway system, in the secondary group of state highways, by Chapter 368 of the Laws of 1946, but that the status of that road had been changed under the provisions of the new act; that the Leakesville-State Line road had been taken off the state highway system under the provisions of the new act, along with approximately 5,000 miles of other roads, as a part of the plan which the Legislature adopted to reduce the total mileage on the state highway system from 13,500 miles to 8,600 miles and to create a system of state aid roads under the jurisdiction of the boards of supervisors to supplement the system of state highways; and that the Leakesville-State Line road had thereby been made eligible for improvement as a part of the new state aid road program. The plaintiff stated that he had served as a member of the Legislative Recess Study Committee which had devised the plan for the construction of the system of state aid roads provided for under the provisions of the new act. He stated that Greene County would be entitled to have 208 miles of state aid roads constructed as its share of the roads on the state aid road system, and that in his opinion the Leakesville-State Line road would be given top priority on the state aid road system. The plaintiff's testimony concerning the status of the two roads mentioned above under the new act followed closely the contents of the statement which he had prepared for publication as a reply to the newspaper article complained of and which the defendant had refused to publish.
The plaintiff testified further that, after the defendant had refused to publish his reply, he was forced to incur heavy expenses in attempting to counteract the harmful effects which had been produced by the publication of the false and misleading statements contained in the editorial; that he had handbills printed and distributed over the county, setting forth the facts concerning the changes made in the status of the two highways under the provisions of the new act; and that he spent several weeks traveling over the county for the purpose of contacting the people and explaining to them the facts concerning the status of the two highways. He stated that his law business had suffered as a result of the aspersions cast upon his honesty and integrity by the publication of the editorial.
Several other witnesses testified for the plaintiff for the purpose of showing that the publication of the editorial during the political campaign had provoked unfavorable comments among the people concerning the plaintiff's responsibility for the two roads losing their priority status and the failure of the state highway department to take over the roads for improvement as state highways.
At the conclusion of the plaintiff's testimony the defendant's attorneys made a motion to exclude the evidence offered on behalf of the plaintiff and for a directed verdict. The court overruled the motion. The defendant offered no testimony on his own behalf. Each of the respective parties lasked for a peremptory instruction, which the court refused to grant; and the case was submitted to the jury upon the evidence presented by the plaintiff and the instructions granted by the court. The...
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