Fisher v. Leader Publishing Co.

Citations

• 239 Pa. 200
• 86 A. 776
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 537

Syllabus

<p>Libel — Newspapers—Charge of crime — Case for the court.</p> <p>1. In an action against a newspaper by one of three officials of a charitable institution to recover damages for a publication which was alleged to have charged plaintiff with abortion, and the murder of a young girl resident in the institution, a verdict for the defendant is properly directed, where, although the article intimates that abortion and murder had been committed, there is nothing in it to charge that the girl’s death or the abortion was caused by the plaintiff, or that he was an accessory before or after the fact, or had any connection with the crime.</p> <p>Practice, O. P. — Amendment of statement — Exception—Act of May 11,1911, P. L. 279.</p> <p>2. Section 6 of the Act of May 11, 1911, P. L. 279, was not intended to apply to every decision made in the course of a trial. This action is intended to apply to final decisions or to such as appear as part of the record by the action of the court itself and not to rulings upon interlocutory matters which would formerly not have become part of the record, in the absence of an exception and a bill sealed by the court.</p> <p>3. The effect of Sections 1 and 2 of the Act is merely to dispense with the requirement that exceptions shall be allowed by the court. They must still be taken by counsel and noted by the official stenographer.</p> <p>4. Where a motion to amend a statement of claim is made after the trial, and the court refuses to permit the amendment, the order of refusal may be reviewed under Section 6, of the Act of May 11, 1911, P. L. 279, if the decision of the court appears in the proceedings, although no exception was taken thereto.</p>