Munday v. Landry

Citations

• 51 La. Ann. 303
• 25 So. 66
• 1899 La. LEXIS 397

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.</p> <p>On Application to Remand.</p> <p>Affidavits of witnesses for defendants and counter affidavits of witnesses for plaintiff regarding the extent of injury suffered in a case of assault and battery, do not present grounds to set aside the verdict and remand the case.</p> <p>On the Merits.</p> <p>The principal defendant sought reparation from plaintiff and in this he was joined by his co-defendant.</p> <p>An asserted insulting letter was received a few hours before the difficulty occurred.</p> <p>There was not in the letter under the law, cause for an assault and battery, such as the jury found was committed.</p> <p>Words written or spoken some time prior will not justify a physical attack upon the one by whom they were written or spoken.</p> <p>The law has never gone further than to permit mere provocation to be shown as a palliation for the acts and result of anger.</p> <p>The legal phrase is; in mitigation, not in justification.</p> <p>The jury must have found ground to mitigate damages, but not enough to justify the act. A conclusion affirmed by the court.</p> <p>Woids written from one or spoken by him will not justify a physical attack.</p> <p>As words never constitute an assault, says Mr. Cooley in his work on Torts, p. 07, neither will they justify the employment of force in protection against them, however gross or abusive they may be.</p> <p>The preponderance of the testimony sustains the verdict of the jury on this point, fixing the assault and battery upon the defendants.</p> <p>The jury saw and heard the witnesses.</p> <p>To the decision of that body as relates to mere facts, weight is always given.</p> <p>It being a fact, established as we think by the testimony that defendants were ■ the aggressors in the difficulty at plaintiff's office, the rule to whien we have just referred, applies.</p> <p>The next matter in hand for our determination, is the amount of the damages.</p> <p>it is a general rule, that great provocation may be shown wh