Webb v. Call Pub. Co.
| Decision Date | 14 December 1920 |
| Citation | 173 Wis. 45,180 N.W. 263 |
| Parties | WEBB v. CALL PUB. CO. ET AL. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Circuit Court, Racine County; E. B. Belden, Judge.
Action for libel by Forest Webb against the Call Publishing Company and others. After verdict for the plaintiff, the court granted a new trial on plaintiff's refusal to remit a portion of the verdict, and plaintiff appeals. Order affirmed.
Libel. The plaintiff in this action is a young man 22 years of age. He was born and raised in Rankin county, Miss., has a high school education, and is the son of respectable well-to-do parents. He came to Racine some time during the fore part of 1918 and secured employment in the factories. For a considerable length of time he lived with one William Gause, in whose household he was considered almost a member of the family, and was introduced by them to their circle of friends. While living with them he became acquainted with a number of people, and began to form friendships and enlarge his acquaintanceships. In the spring of 1919 he obtained a position as salesman with the Ever-Grip Manufacturing Company at Peoria, Ill., and while on the road for them he received a letter from a friend at Racine, stating that the police were inquiring for him. On or about the 19th day of June, 1919, he came back to Racine to see what the trouble was. At police headquarters he was informed that he was wanted at Watseka, Ill., on the charge of forgery. He was taken into custody, confined in jail for a couple of days, and then taken to Watseka, Ill., where he was released because not the man wanted by the authorities.
The defendant Call Publishing Company was at the time in question the proprietor and publisher of the Racine Times-Call, a daily newspaper which had a circulation of 6,500 copies in the city and county of Racine and elsewhere in the state of Wisconsin and throughout the United States. The defendant Walter S. Goodland was the editor and manager thereof. On the 18th day of June, 1919, the said newspaper published the following libelous article concerning the plaintiff:
“Long Hunted Forger Gives Himself Up.
Forest Webb, wanted at Watseka, Ill., on a forgery charge, walked into the police station this morning and gave himself up.
The police have been searching for Webb for over a year. He formerly lived on De Koven avenue, and worked in a local automobile factory. When he left here, he went to Watseka, Ill., where he stopped at the most exclusive hotels under the name of Eddie Ryan.
It is claimed that he passed several worthless checks on hotel keepers in that city.
The sheriff of Iroquois county telephoned to Racine to be on the lookout for the man. Detectives watched his boarding place, but it was not until to-day, when he walked into the station, that they saw anything of him.”
Just before returning to Racine plaintiff resigned his position with the Ever-Grip Company, and did not apply for reinstatement therein. Upon his return from Illinois he secured work in a factory at Racine.
The defendants admitted the publication of the article, disavowed any intention to defame and injure the plaintiff in his good name and reputation; denied that the article was maliciously composed, printed, or published; that the article appeared simply as a news item, and was brought in by one of its news gatherers, and was inserted and appeared in said paper without having been submitted to or passed upon or signed prior to its publication by the defendant Goodland; that an honest mistake was made in the publishing of said article; that on the 11th day of July, 1919, a retraction was published in said newspaper in words and figures as follows:
“Long Hunted Forger Gives Himself Up.
Forest Webb, wanted at Watseka, Ill., on a forgery charge, walked into the police station this morning and gave himself up.
The police have been searching for Webb for over a year. He formerly lived on De Koven avenue, and worked in a local automobile factory. When he left here, he went to Watseka, Ill., where he stopped at the most exclusive hotels under the name of Eddie Ryan.
It is claimed that he passed several worthless checks on hotel keepers in that city. The sheriff of Iroquois county telephoned to Racine to be on the lookout for the man. Detectives watched his boarding place, but it was not until to-day, when he walked into the station, that they saw anything of him.
The Times-Call desires to fully retract any charge or implication of charge of forgery or any other wrong act contained in the above heading and any text matter following the heading.
The attention of the Times-Call having just been called to this article, investigation shows that the charges against Mr. Webb have not been substantiated.”
The case was tried before a jury, and a general verdict, assessing plaintiff's damages at $1,000, was returned. The defendants moved the court to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial, among other reasons because the court erred in refusing to receive evidence offered by the defendants on the trial, and because the damages were excessive. In deciding this motion the court filed a decision in the nature of an opinion, in which he held that the damages were excessive, and entered an order that the plaintiff have the option of remitting all in excess of $500 within 15 days after the entry of the order, with the condition that the defendants pay the costs of trial, and that if the plaintiff does not accept such option the defendants have the option of paying to the plaintiff $600 and the costs of trial. Neither party accepted the option, and thereafter, on the 5th day of April, 1920, a new trial was ordered upon payment by the defendants of the costs of the trial of this action. From this order plaintiff appealed.
Storms, Foley & Beck, of Racine (Jerome J. Foley, of Racine, of counsel), for appellant.
Smieding & Gittins, of Racine (Wallace Ingalls, of Racine, of counsel), for respondents.
OWEN, J. (after stating the facts as above).
[1] The court ordered a new trial because the damages were excessive. The determination of the damages sustained by the plaintiff by reason of the printing of the libelous article was peculiarly a question for the jury. The court was not at liberty to set aside the verdict on the ground that the damages, as determined therein, were excessive, unless it can be said they were so excessive as to create the belief that the jury had been misled either by...
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