Sowell v. McDonald

Citations

• 58 Miss. 251

Syllabus

<p>1. Evidence. Action for assault and battery. Good character.</p> <p>In the trial of an action to recover damages for an assault and battery by the defendant on the plaintiff, evidence of the good character of the defendant for peace and good order is inadmissible.</p> <p>2. Assault and Battery. In whipping another’s child. Provocation. Action for damages.</p> <p>An infant about five years of age committed a violent and brutal assault and battery upon a child eighteen months old. The father of the latter then caught the former and whipped him severely. He then, by his next friend, brought an action to recover damages for the assault and battery, or whipping, inflicted upon him by the man, who was not his father nor guardian. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of the paintiff for $100, and the court refused to set it aside. Held, that the verdict was well warranted by the evidence. The provocation, though great, did not justify the whipping; and the right to protect his own child did not authorize the defendant to punish the plaintiff for having maltreated it.</p>