Zeliff v. Jennings

Citations

• 61 Tex. 458
• 1884 Tex. LEXIS 125

Syllabus

<p>1. Slander — Limitation.— Limitation will not run against an action for slander, brought within a year after the uttering of the slanderous words, merely because an amendment filed more than one year afterwards, which did not change the charge contained in the original petition, set forth more specifically, by way of averment, the innuendo thereof.</p> <p>S. Slander — Evidence.— In a suit for slander the defendant was charged with having said, “ She (meaning plaintiff, Sue Jennings) was kept all last year by the son of a widow; ” and after stating in the petition that Bettie Lyons was a lewd girl, the petition charged that defendant had said, “We have got another woman in the same house (meaning plaintiff), just like that girl” (meaning Bettie Lyons). A witness on the trial was permitted to state that he heard defendant say, “ Sue Jennings was kept last year by the son of a widow woman,” and also, “ We have another girl on the place just like the one we had last year,” it being shown that plaintiff was the only young woman living there. Held, that the evidence was admissible.</p> <p>3. Evidence. — In an action for slander, evidence of the repetition by defendant of the slanderous words, after the institution of the suit, is admissible to show the malice of the speaker in using the words constituting the b asis for the action.</p> <p>4. Pleading —Slander.— When the charge in an action of slander sets forth a conversation with defendant, showing that in defendant’s estimation L. was a lewd girl, and the petition shows that plaintiff was the only woman , who lived in ihe house when the following words were spoken by defendant, “ we have got another woman in that same house, just like L.,” held, that the plaintiff, in charging the innuendo, was not bound to specify whether the man with whom defendant intended to charge lewd intercourse was married or single, and that a charge that the defendant meant to be understood that plaintiff was guilty of “adultery or fornicat