Hoey v. Fletcher

Citations

• 39 Fla. 325

Syllabus

<p>LIBEL — NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AS EVIDENCE — HARMLESS ERROR.</p> <p>1. In a suit for libel, an article, published in a widely circulated newspaper, containing a statement of facts upon which the defendant subsequently predicates the libelous publication, if shown to have been seen, read and believed to be true by the defendant, is proper to be admitted in evidence, not in rebuttal of the plaintiff’s evidence disproving the truth of such newspaper article, nor as affirmative evidence of the truth of the statements therein made, but only in mitigation of damages for the purpose of showing that the libelous words were used upon probable grounds of suspicion calculated at the time to impress the belief of their truth, and that they were not published with the malicious purpose of falsely and wantonly •destroying character.</p> <p>2. It is discretionary with the trial judge, after the defendants have closed the introduction of their evidence in chief and the plaintiffs have introduced their rebuttal testimony, to open the case and permit the defendants to introduce new evidence tending to sustain their defense, but that is not in rebuttal of any evidence introduced on the reply by the plaintiffs.</p> <p>3. When it is apparent to an appellate court from the entire record and proofs that the jury could not properly have found otherwise than in favor of the plaintiffs, as they did find, it will, not reverse the judgment because of improper remarks by the trial judge, calculated to intimidate the jury, but will treat, such remarks as harmless error.</p>