Mueller v. Radebaugh

Citations

• 79 Kan. 306
• 99 P. 612
• 1909 Kan. LEXIS 180

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Slander-—Privileged Communication. A communication to an officer of the law charging a person with a crime, made in an honest effort to recover stolen property and for the purpose of detecting and punishing the criminal, is privileged.</p> <p>2. - Absence of Malice—Privileged Communication—Demurrer to Evidence. In an action for slander based upon such communication, where there is no evidence of malice, a demurrer to the evidence is rightly sustained.'</p> <p>3. Libel—Evidence. The publication in a newspaper of a notice that property has been stolen and offering a reward for information leading to the conviction of the guilty persons, which refers to no particular person as guilty, is not libelous; and, where such article contains no ambiguous expressions or insinuations which require extraneous testimony to explain, the matter can not be rendered libelous by proof that persons who were familiar with other facts understood the article to refer to plaintiff.</p>