History
  • No items yet
midpage
Adams v. Stone
131 Mass. 433
Mass.
1881
Check Treatment
Endicott, J.

The demurrer was properly sustained. The words charged in the declaration as spoken by the defendant do not in themselves impute or imply the commission of a crime. *434They merely state that the plaintiff was intimate with his brother’s wife for a number of years. If the plaintiff intended to prove that the words, as used by the defendant, charged him with the commission of adultery with his brother’s wife, he should have alleged the facts, circumstances or conversation in connection with -which they were spoken and which gave to them this special and peculiar meaning. The innuendo is wholly insufficient for that purpose; it does not enlarge the meaning of the words beyond their natural import. It must appear from the declaration that the words used are actionable. Bloss v. Tobey, 2 Pick. 320. Tebbetts v. Goding, 9 Gray, 254. Goodrich v. Hooper, 97 Mass. 1. Brettun v. Anthony, 103 Mass. 37. York v. Johnson, 116 Mass. 482. Krebs v. Oliver, 12 Gray, 239. Fowle v. Robbins, 12 Mass. 498. Goodrich v. Davis, 11 Met. 473. Carter v. Andrews, 16 Pick. 1.

Judgment affirmed.

Case Details

Case Name: Adams v. Stone
Court Name: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Date Published: Oct 21, 1881
Citation: 131 Mass. 433
Court Abbreviation: Mass.
AI-generated responses must be verified and are not legal advice.
Your Notebook is empty. To add cases, bookmark them from your search, or select Add Cases to extract citations from a PDF or a block of text.