Morgan v. Loyacomo
| Decision Date | 14 April 1941 |
| Docket Number | 34520. |
| Citation | 190 Miss. 656,1 So.2d 510 |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
| Parties | MORGAN et al. v. LOYACOMO. |
Cowles Horton, of Grenada, for appellants.
S C. Mims, Jr., and W. B. Nicols, both of Grenada, and W. I Stone, of Coffeeville, for appellee.
Appellants are the owners and operators of forty-eight retail stores one of which is in Grenada. Appellee purchased in this store on the day in question an article of ladies' underwear and having paid for it departed from the store. One White was the manager of the store and witnessed the purchase. A trivial circumstance connected with the purchase caused White to suspect, but without any substantial grounds therefor that appellee had taken away two garments but had paid for only one. Without making any inquiry either of the clerk or of appellee before appellee left the store, which if done would have readily revealed that the manager's suspicions were without any ground, White permitted appellee to leave the store, but followed her; and when about a block away and in the presence of several persons, he called to appellee, stated that he was obliged to investigate whether she had taken two articles while paying for only one, forcibly seized the package from under her arm, opened it, examined and exhibited the contents in the presence of the third persons, and found that he was in error, which, as already mentioned, he could easily have ascertained by a proper inquiry conducted in a proper manner before appellee left the store.
It is the first contention that there was no assault and battery, and that the words of White, with his attendant conduct, did not amount to a slander. Appellants are mistaken that White's actions did not constitute an assault and battery. The authorities are agreed that, to constitute an assault and battery, it is not necessary to touch the plaintiff's body or even his clothing; knocking or snatching anything from plaintiff's hand or touching anything connected with his person, when done in a rude or insolent manner, is sufficient. 5 C.J. pp. 619, 620; 6 C.J.S., Assault and Battery, § 9, pp. 801, 802, and cases cited in the notes. See, also, 2 Bishop, New Criminal Law, Section 72.
Appellants next contend that White's actions were not within the rules which would hold appellants to account therefor. The reply to this is by a quotation which we take from Scott-Burr Stores v. Edgar, Miss., 165 So. 623: "The...
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...akin to a common law assault and battery. See Williams v. Clark, 236 Miss. 423, 427, 110 So.2d 365, 367 (1959); Morgan v. Loyacomo, 190 Miss. 656, 663, 1 So.2d 510, 511 (1941); see also State For the Use of Smith v. Smith, 156 Miss. 288, 292, 125 So. 825, 826 (1930). If defendants were priv......
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...Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts 33 (3d ed. 1964); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 18 (Am. L. Inst. 1965) ; Morgan v. Loyacomo , 190 Miss. 656, 1 So. 2d 510, 511 (1941) ("[K]nocking or snatching anything from plaintiff's hand or touching anything connected with his person, when done in......
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...could not give rise to an award for damages for emotional distress. Means, 680 So.2d at 804. ¶ 22. In Morgan v. Loyacomo, 190 Miss. 656, 1 So.2d 510 (1941) the appellants were the operators of about forty eight retail stores. The appellee purchased an article of underwear, paid for it, and ......