Sharp v. Bussey
| Decision Date | 10 March 1939 |
| Citation | 187 So. 779,137 Fla. 96 |
| Parties | SHARP v. BUSSEY. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied April 25, 1939.
Error to Circuit Court, Duval County; Bayard B. Shields, Judge.
Action for slander by Joseph A. Bussey against Felix Sharp. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant brings error.
Affirmed upon condition that plaintiff enter a remittitur from judgment.
COUNSEL Milam, McIlvaine & Milam and Harry Katz, all of Jacksonville, for plaintiff in error.
John E Mathews, of Jacksonville, for defendant in error.
In an action for slander, a demurrer to the declaration was overruled and on a plea of not guilty a verdict for $25,000 damages was returned. On motion for new trial the court suggested a remittitur of $10,000 which was entered and judgment for $15,000 damages to the plaintiff was rendered. Writ of error was taken by the defendant.
The declaration is as follows:
'Second Count.
'And for a second count of the declaration, the plaintiff says that he is a hwite man, and has lived for many years at Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and for many years has been Mayor of the City of Jacksonville Beach, and was such Mayor during the month of July A. D. 1936, and until the time of the committing of the several grievances hereinafter mentioned, was a person of good name and pepution, and deservedly enjoyed the esteem and good opinion of his neighbors and other worthy citizens of the State of Florida. Yet the said defendant, well knowing the premises, wrongfully and maliciously intending to injure, prejudice, aggrieve and degrade the plaintiff and to bring him into public scandal, disgrace and disrepute, and to injure his good name and reputation, falsely, wickedly and maliciously published verbally of and concerning the plaintiff during the month of July A. D. 1936, to many of his neighbors and to divers good and worthy citizens of the State of Florida, the following false, malicious, defamatory and slanderous words, to-wit: 'Joe Bussey danced with negro wenches at a negro dance hall.' Meaning thereby to charge that the said Joseph A. Bussey, plaintiff herein, had danced with negro women.
'The said words were spoken by said defendant with malice, and were spoken for the purpose and with the intent to cause injury to the plaintiff in his personal, social, official or business relations of life, and the natural and proximate consequence of speaking said words was to injure the plaintiff in his personal, social, official or business relations of life.
'Whereby by means of the committing of the said grievances by the defendant, the plaintiff has been and is greatly injured in his good name, fame and reputation, and has been humiliated and...
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Belli v. Orlando Daily Newspapers, Inc.
...four well-defined categories, Florida courts have adopted a broad view of what constitutes slander per se. In Sharpe v. Bussey, 1939, 137 Fla. 96, 187 So. 779, 780, 121 A.L.R. 1148, the court although emphasizing that "This action is for slander, not libel" quoted with approval the followin......
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Firestone v. Time, Inc.
...se. Layne v. Tribune Co., 108 Fla. 177, 146 So. 234 (1933), Harriss v. Metropolis Co., 118 Fla. 825, 160 So. 205 (1935), Sharp v. Bussey, 137 Fla. 96, 187 So. 779 (1939), 20 Fla.Jur. Libel and Slander, Section 20, 50 Am.Jur.2d Libel and Slander, Section 60, Restatement of the Law of Torts, ......
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Fuoco v. O&neill
...of life." Wolfson v. Kirk, 273 So. 2d 774, 777 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), rev. denied, 279 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 1973) (quoting Sharp v. Busey, 187 So. 779 (Fla. 1939)). More specifically, to constitute libel per se, the statements must, "when 'considered alone without innuendo, '... contain (1) charge......
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Owner's Adjustment Bureau, Inc. v. Ott
...v. Turner, 291 So.2d 670 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Carter v. Sterling Finance Co., 132 So.2d 430 (Fla. 1st DCA 1961). See Sharp v. Bussey, 137 Fla. 96, 187 So. 779 (1939). We must, however, for the reasons stated earlier in this opinion, reverse the final judgment and summary judgment on liabilit......