Sanford v. Howard
| Decision Date | 26 September 1939 |
| Docket Number | 28468. |
| Citation | 95 P.2d 644,185 Okla. 660,1939 OK 343 |
| Parties | SANFORD v. HOWARD. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Nov. 14, 1939.
Syllabus by the Court.
1. By section 726, O.S.1931, 12 Okl.St.Ann. § 1443, two classes of privileged publications are recognized: (1) Those where the occasions designated, regardless of malice, constitute an absolute privilege and preclude recovery of damages; and (2) those in which the circumstances of the defamatory publication, together with the testimony, rebut the presumption of malice and afford a qualified privilege. German-American Ins. Co. v. Huntley et al., 62 Okl 39, 161 P. 815.
2. The defendant, S., who was at the time president of the Colored Agricultural and Normal University of Oklahoma, and who had previously been directed by the Board of Regents of that institution to report to the board "any misconduct" or "any irregularity" on the part of any "teacher or employee of the University", appeared before said board of regents at a time and place when and where said board was regularly in session, and then and there made a certain oral statement to said board about and concerning the plaintiff herein who then was employed at said University in the capacity of matron. Said statement being one which in substance carried an imputation of want of chastity on plaintiff's part. Held: That in making said statement the defendant was acting in the proper discharge of an official duty; and, that the occasion upon which said statement was made was one upon which absolute privilege attended the defendant in the making thereof.
Appeal from District Court, Logan County; Henry W. Hoel, Judge.
Action by Pearl Howard against J. W. Sanford to recover damages for alleged slander. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
Rehearing denied; HURST and DAVISON, JJ., dissenting.
Bohanon & Adams and Bert Barefoot, Jr., all of Oklahoma City, and A V. Dinwiddie, of Guthrie, for plaintiff in error.
Amos T. Hall, of Tulsa, and Adams & Barnes, of Guthrie, for defendant in error.
Pearl Howard, now defendant in error but plaintiff in the court below, sued J. W. Sanford in the district court of Logan County, Oklahoma, with a view to recovering damages for alleged slander. And after trial, and pursuant to a jury's verdict which found generally in her favor and fixed the amount of her recovery at $1,000.00, the trial court accordingly rendered judgment against the defendant Sanford. From the action of the trial court in overruling his motion for a new trial and in rendering said judgment, J. W. Sanford has appealed.
In her petition said plaintiff alleged as the basis for her charge of slander that: "* * * on the 2d day of April, 1937, she was in the employ of Langston University, and that on said day and on numerous other occasions in the town of Langston, county of Logan, State of Oklahoma in a certain discourse and conversation which said defendant had with and in the hearing and presence of certain persons, to-wit, John Austin, W. L. Jones and other persons whose names are to the plaintiff unknown, maliciously, falsely and slanderously spoke and published of and concerning this plaintiff certain slanderous, false, defamatory words as follows, to-wit: 'Pearl Howard was arrested in Guthrie, Oklahoma, on the 20th day of March, for immoral conduct; that she was naked at the time and was engaged in a sexual intercourse."'
The defendant's answer was one which, in addition to pleading general denial, also in effect pled the doctrine of privileged communication. And in relation to the latter it was alleged, in substance, that while the defendant denied making the statement charged in the plaintiff's petition, as well as having made such statement to the individuals named in said petition, he did at a time while holding and occupying the position of President of the Colored Agricultural and Normal University of Oklahoma make a certain statement to the Board of Regents of said University, at a certain time and place stated when and where said board was assembled and convened in regular session; the statement being, in substance, as follows: That he, Sanford, had theretofore been informed by one Raigan, a police officer of the city of Guthrie, Oklahoma, that one W. L. Jones and a woman had been arrested in a certain house in Guthrie; and that he, Sanford, had also been informed by said police officer that the woman so arrested was Pearl Howard, and that Jones and the said Pearl Howard were charged in the police court of the City of Guthrie with the crime of immoral conduct. He also alleged that at the time he made said statement he honestly believed same to be true, and, that same was made by him in good faith and without malice.
The record reflects that, at the trial in the court below, no attempt was made on the part of the plaintiff to establish that the defendant at any time, place, or occasion stated or referred to in her petition had made or communicated to any of the individuals named or referred to in the petition the statement charged in said petition. And as we read the record, the proof on her part relative to any statements made by the defendant, as well as the proof in that regard which was made on the part of the defendant, was in substance, as follows: That on April 3, 1937, at a time and place when and where the Board of Regents of the Colored Agricultural and Normal University was assembled and convened in regular session, the defendant, then and there holding and occupying the position of President of the aforenamed University appeared in person before said Board of Regents at said regular session and there orally stated to said Board the following, in substance: That he, Sanford, had theretofore been informed by one Ben Raigan, a police officer of the City of Guthrie, Oklahoma, that one W. L. Jones and a woman had recently been arrested while together in a room in a certain house in Guthrie; and that he, Sanford, had been further informed by said police officer that the woman so...
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