Riddell v. Thayer

• Decision Date: 23 October 1879
• Parties: Julia E. Riddell v. John Thayer
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

127 Mass. 487

Julia E. Riddell v. John Thayer

Supreme Court of Massachusetts

October 23, 1879

Franklin. Tort for slander, in accusing the plaintiff, a married woman of the crime of adultery, "by words spoken of the plaintiff substantially as follows: 'She' (meaning the plaintiff) 'is a bad woman; she is a damned bitch she is a God-damned whore'; 'Riddell's wife' (meaning the plaintiff) 'is a whore.'" Answer, a general denial.

At the trial in the Superior Court, before Pitman, J., the plaintiff introduced evidence tending to prove that the slanderous words alleged in the declaration were spoken by the defendant of the plaintiff on April 14, 1877, in the defendant's house.

The plaintiff also called as a witness Elisha B. Alvord, and, for the purpose of showing malice on the part of the defendant offered to prove that the defendant, in the fall of 1875, and before the plaintiff was married, uttered to the witness slanderous words of and concerning the plaintiff. This evidence was objected to by the defendant, and excluded. The defendant testified as a witness, and denied that he mentioned the plaintiff's name or used any language about her at the time relied on as the time of the slander; and testified that he did not know her before she was married and, on cross-examination, testified as follows: "I know Elisha B. Alvord, of Shelburne. I never saw him to speak to him about the plaintiff, in my life. I heard she lived at his house. I did not tell him she was a bad woman. I did not tell him, if Riddell got her, he would take her at second hand. I did not know her." The plaintiff afterwards recalled Elisha B. Alvord, in rebuttal, who testified as follows: "I had a conversation with the defendant in the fall of 1875. I was standing on the sidewalk and he came along and spoke to me." The witness was then asked what the defendant said. The defendant objected to the conversation, but the judge ruled that the testimony was admissible, and the witness was allowed, under the objection of the defendant, to testify as follows: "Mr. Thayer said to me, 'You are about to lose your housekeeper. I said, 'There seems to be a prospect of it.' The defendant said, 'He will have to take her second hand, won't he?' I asked what he meant. He said, 'Why, has n't she been living with you three or four months?' That is all. He said nothing about her being a woman of bad character."

It was not contended that the words, "she is a demand bitch," were actionable. The defendant requested the judge to rule that the words, "she is a bad woman," were not actionable; and that they should not be taken into consideration by the jury. The judge asked the plaintiff's counsel if he claimed to include the words, "she is a bad woman," as part of the actionable language; if so, he should so rule; and, the counsel signifying that he so desired, the judge ruled that, if those words were such as the jury understood to import the commission of the crime of adultery, they might so consider them, and, on this point, further instructed the jury as follows: "Words complained of as slanderous are to be understood in their natural and obvious sense, and to receive the construction which the persons to whom they were addressed would ordinarily and reasonably attach to them; and, in determining the sense in which the words were used and understood, the jury may take into account the accompanying words and the surrounding facts."

The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff; and the defendant alleged exceptions.

Exceptions overruled.

C. Delano, (S. O. Lamb with him,) for the defendant.

S. T. Field, (A. De Wolf with him,) for the plaintiff.

Lord J. Ames & Endicott, JJ., absent.

OPINION

Lord, J.

Two questions only are presented by this bill of exceptions for our consideration: 1. Was the testimony of Alvord at the time, and under the circumstances in which it was admitted, competent? 2. Was the instruction of the court in relation to the phrase "bad woman" correct?

None of the many nice and difficult questions which frequently arise in trials for slander, as to whether the words offered to...