Powers v. Wheatley

Citations

• 45 Cal. 113

Syllabus

<p>Instructions in Action tor Breach ot Promise ot Marriage.— Where, in an action for breach of promise of marriage, the defendant does not, either in his answer or by his testimony, attack the chastity of the plaintiff, it is error for the Court to instruct the jury that “if the defendant has undertaken to rest his defense, in whole or in part, on the bad character or improper conduct of the plaintiff, and failed in his proof, the jury may consider this as an aggravation of damages.”</p> <p>Breach ot Promise ot Marriage.—In an action for breach of promise of marriage, the interposition of a defense that the character of the plaintiff is unchaste, even if unsuccessful, ought not, per se, to aggravate the damages, unless it is interposed in bad faith, from malice, wantonness, or recklessness.</p>