35 N.Y.S. 736 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1895
The plaintiff was nonsuited at the Monroe circuit in March, 1895, upon the close of the plaintiff’s evidence, upon the ground that the words spoken, if proved, were not slanderous per se, and that no special damage was alleged. The plaintiff was a married woman, and brought this action against the defendant, charging that he had in a public place, and in the presence of others, said concerning the plaintiff: “What are you? You were a cook in Martin Burns’ low hotel. Any one that worked there ain’t much, and I dare you to arrest me (meaning thereby and by those words that plaintiff was and had been a common prostitute and of bad character),”—to which plaintiff said, “That is not so.” Whereupon the defendant maliciously said: “You are a liar. You are crazy.” And on another occasion, later on, the complaint charged that the defendant wickedly and maliciously said, in the hearing and presence of one Mr. McFadden, “that he (meaning Mr. McFadden) was a gentleman, but you (speaking to the plaintiff) are not a lady (meaning thereby to hold out plaintiff to be a bad character).” It was proved by several witnesses that these words were spoken of and concerning the plaintiff in the presence of others in the city of Rochester. The plaintiff claimed upon the trial, and takes the position here, that the words used imputed unchastity to the plaintiff, or at least it was a question for the jury to determine whether they imputed such unchastity, and it was error not to submit the case to the jury.
The action is brought under section 1906 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provides that, “in an action of slander brought by a woman for words imputing unchastity to her, it is not necessary to allege or prove special damages.” This section is the substance of