50 A. 567 | Md. | 1901
The appellee sued the appellant for libel and this appeal was taken from a judgment recovered in favor of the former. The alleged libelous words were contained in a letter written by the appellant to Mr. Murray Vandiver, Chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee, a few days before the election held for Governor and other officers, on the 7th day of November, 1899. The Hon. Lloyd Lowndes was then Governor *192 of Maryland and was a candidate for re-election. The appellant had been a prominent Republican. After referring to the removal by Governor Lowndes of a supervisor of election and the appointment of the appellee in his place, the portion of the letter quoted in the declaration thus speaks of the appellee: "This man Brown was a Justice of the Peace under Democratic rule, and at that time kept a speak-easy, where he sold whiskey, and then as Justice fined the men for disorderly conduct. He helped stuff the ballot-box at the Republican primaries in Vansville District two years ago, and has no moral character whatever. This is the man that Governor Lowndes has appointed as election supervisor. A man that everyone who knows him believes can be induced to perpetrate any crime in politics that will pay him. I shall therefore support Colonel Smith, and hope all Republicans and Democrats who believe in the purity of the elections, will do the same."
1. The defendant filed the general issue plea and nineteen pleas of justification. A number of the latter were demurred to and the rulings of the Court in sustaining the demurrers to the sixth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth present the first questions for our consideration. The sixth undertook to justify the statement that the plaintiff "has no moral character whatever," by alleging that he was the agent of the Havener Baking Company of Washington City to sell bread and crackers for said company upon commission, to deliver them to the purchasers, collect the money therefor and return it to the company, "and that in the course of such agency the plaintiff received from said company large quantities of bread and crackers which he has not returned to said company and the value of which, to wit: thirty-six dollars and forty cents he has not returned to said company, although demand therefor has been made upon him, the plaintiff, by said company."
The mere statement of that alleged justification, in the words of the plea, is sufficient to relieve us of further discussion of it, as it will be observed that it is not even alleged *193 that the appellee had received the money, and there is nothing in the plea that in any way justifies the charge referred to in it.
2. The seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth pleas can be considered together. They undertook to justify the statement that the plaintiff was "a man that every one who knows him believes can be induced to perpetrate any crime in politics that would pay him," by alleging that the plaintiff committed the wrongs spoken of in the fifth plea and also that he was one of the judges of election for the election held in November, 1900,
and while so acting as such judge gave a reward to wit: the sum of one dollar and seventy-five cents to a registered voter of his district to secure his vote. That is the statement in the seventeenth plea which differs but little from the other three. The only question we need consider in reference to them is whether the defendant is entitled to justify by alleging that the plaintiff had done those acts at the election held in November,1900, which was the year after the publication of the alleged libel. As was said in Lewis v. Daily News Company,
3. There are four bills of exception in the record. The first embraces a ruling of the Court in admitting a circular containing this letter and the others refer to the prayers. It will be more convenient to first consider the rulings on the prayers. Those offered on the part of the defendant were based on the theory that this communication from appellant to Mr. Vandiver was privileged and therefore in the absence of proof of express malice he was not liable. It is contended *195
that it was the duty of the appellant to make known such information as he had concerning the appellee, who had been appointed a supervisor of election. It is conceded that it was for the Court to determine whether or not this communication was privileged. There was no testimony offered on the part of the defendant, and it was admitted by counsel that Mr. Vandiver, if present, would testify as set out in a statement filed in the case, which shows the position he occupied, his duties and that the defendant wrote the letter to him on the 4th day of November, 1899. It is difficult to understand how it can be contended from what appears in the record that this letter was written by the appellant for the purpose of giving to Mr. Vandiver information concerning the appellee, in discharge of a duty he, as an elector, owed the public. It is apparent that it was aimed at Governor Lowndes and the object was to affect his candidacy. The statements about the appellee were given as reasons for the appellant not supporting Governor Lowndes, and manifestly were not intended to enable Mr. Vandiver to take any steps towards the removal of the appellee, who was appointed by the Governor, who alone was authorized to remove him, for good cause shown, upon written charges and after notice and hearing. Code, Art. 33, sec. 3. If such charges has been made in good faith by the appellant against the appellee, to the Governor, in an effort to have him removed, and the appellee was complaining of that, the appellant would occupy a very different position from that he has placed himself in. There may be a justification from the occasion in some classes of cases and then the words must be proved to be malicious as well as false, to entitle the plaintiff to recover. In Fresh v. Cutter,
The authorities are not altogether uniform as to how far a public officer, who is a candidate before the people for re-election can be criticised, without subjecting the writer to a suit for damages. In this State it has been said that while the official conduct of a public officer may be discussed and criticised, within lawful and proper limits, "if one goes out of his way to asperse the personal character of a public man, and to ascribe to him base and corrupt motives, he must do so at his peril; and must either prove the truth of what he says or answer in damages to the party injured." Negley v. Farrow,
From what we have said it follows that the first prayer of the defendant offered at the close of the plaintiff's case was properly rejected. It asks the Court to instruct the jury that the plaintiff had offered no evidence legally sufficient to entitle him to recover.
The second, third and fourth were likewise properly rejected. They were on the theory that the letter was a privileged communication and as the plaintiff had offered no proof of express malice to him on the part of the defendant, or of the falsity of the libelous words, or that they were composed, written and published by the defendant without reasonable and probable cause, the verdict must be for the defendant.
The plaintiff then offered six prayers, all of which were granted. Having determined that the letter was not written on a privileged occasion, there can be no objection to the first. The second was on the measure of damages. The only question as to that is whether it was proper to authorize the jury to give exemplary or punitive damages without proof of express malice. While the decisions of some other Courts have differed on that subject, it is settled in this State in a case such as this, where the publication was not privileged and no excuse for it was offered. In Fresh v. Cutter,
The third prayer instructed the jury that the letter was libelous and imputed malice and explained what the word "malicious" meant. We see no objection to it. The fourth and fifth had reference to the evidence necessary to sustain the pleas of justification. As the defendant offered no evidence on that subject, they were wholly unnecessary, but the defendant was not injured by them.
The sixth was "That the jury in considering the evidence and pleadings in this case are instructed that an unsustained plea of justification is in the nature of a repetition of the libel and is to be taken as evidence tending to show express malice in the original publication, and is therefore a matter in aggravation of damages." It is very generally recognized by the authorities that a plaintiff in an action of libel may offer evidence of a republication of the libelous matter for the purpose of showing malice and thereby aggravating the damages. They differ, however, as to the effect of an unsustained plea of justification and although some Courts of high authority have taken the contrary view, we are of the opinion that such a plea, when not sustained, is evidence of malice and is an aggravation of the wrong. The defendant in a suit of this character is authorized to prove the circumstances under which the alleged libel was published and may, under the general issue plea, give evidence of such facts and circumstances as show "probable grounds of suspicion of the plaintiff's guilt, calculated at the time to impress the belief of that truth" in mitigation of damages provided they do not amount to a justification or prove the truth of the words used. That is allowed because the damages to be commensurate with the offense should be regulated by the animus with which the publication is made and if there be proof that it was done under a belief that it was true — the belief being founded on *200
reasonable grounds — the jury should properly take that into consideration in assessing the damages. If, on the other hand, when the party is brought into Court to answer a charge of libel he undertakes to meet it by placing on the public records the allegation that what he published was in fact true, and then utterly fails to establish it, why should he not be held responsible for it? If he made an apology for the publication it is generally admissible in mitigation, and if he thus still stands by the original libel it should aggravate the damages. What can do greater injury to the character of a man than to have it known that a responsible party sued for libel has thus asserted the truth of his statement? The public may believe that the original publication was the result of a misunderstanding, or false information, but when the publisher has asserted his readiness to prove his statement, in a judicial proceeding, many may thereby be led to believe that there was some foundation for it. This Court has therefore adopted the view that it is evidence of malice. Blumhart v. Rohr,
The defendant afterwards offered seven prayers which were passed on by the Court. They all proceed on the theory that the letter was a privileged communication, and after what we have said on that subject it is unnecessary to discuss them. They were properly rejected.
This brings us to the only remaining question in the case, which is presented by the first bill of exceptions. The plaintiff offered a circular which begins: "Honorable Charles E. Coffin against Lloyd Lowdes. Honorable Charles E. Coffin, former Republican State Senator for Prince George's County, and former Republican member of Congress from the Fifth District, writes as follows to Honorable Murray Vandiver, Chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee. Why Governor Lowndes should not be elected," and then follows the letter written by the appellant. The introduction of that circular was objected to. Counsel for the plaintiff stated that it was offered to the jury for a two-fold purpose, "First that they may see and understand if there was any express malice, *201
and second, in order that they may determine and ascertain the amount of damages the person has suffered by reason of such publication." After argument the Court admitted it and gave his reasons for doing so. The defendant excepted to the opinion and decision of the Court. There is no evidence that the defendant was in any wise responsible for the publication of this paper, excepting what can be gathered from the face of the letter itself, and the fact that it was written by the defendant, on the eve of an election, to the Chairman of the Democratic Committee. It is argued that the style of the letter and the expressions used in it, in connection with the fact that it was thus sent to Mr. Vandiver, whose duty it was to promote, as far as possible, by all lawful means, the election of a Democratic candidate, showed that it was intended by the writer that it should be so used by Mr. Vandiver. It is said in 18 Ency. of Law (2nd ed.), 1018, "one who sends or gives a libelous communication to another and thus puts it in circulation is, it has been held, responsible for such subsequent publications as are the natural consequences of his act," and a number of authorities are cited to sustained that statement. But, as was said in Zier v. Hofflin,
But before such a question is submitted to the jury there ought at least to be some evidence tending to show the circumstances of the republication. The record is silent on that subject. It is not only not shown that the appellant was in any way connected with the publication of the circular but it is not shown that Mr. Vandiver ever authorized the publication of it or even knew of it. It would be carrying this doctrine *202 very far to let the jury assume that it was done by authority of the defendant, under the circumstances. If any one addresses a communication to a newspaper the presumption is that he intended to have it published, but merely because the defendant sent it to the committee of a political party it should not be assumed that he intended, or supposed, that it would thus be made use of, and it is possible it was done without the knowledge of Mr. Vandiver or appellant. The parties who did circulate it are not shown to be connected with either. Without some evidence as to how or by whom it was published, the jury could not possibly know whether it was a natural consequence of the original publication and it ought not to have been admitted, in the absence of more evidence than appears in this record.
But if we assume that there was sufficient evidence to justify its admission, what the Court said in admitting it was reversible error. The record shows that the Court said amongst other things "it looks as if the implied authority, certainly the reasonable expectation of it, is that that party would make known that communication in whatever direction he pleased to do. The view cited by the counsel from Baltimore is unquestionably the correct one, and the Court's opinion would have followed that line if this had been a transaction passing between merely private persons. But here is a communication addressed in the midst of a campaign to the political manager of a party of the opposite faith, a communication which in its character was likely to have and presumably was intended to have, its effect upon the public. It could not reach the public except by being spread abroad by the party to whom it was addressed. He was the most likely person. It cannot be that it was intended to rest solely in the bosom of the party to whom it was addressed. * * * This was sent to a source through which men knew and expected there would be publication. It was the business of those men at that time to spread abroad every communication that was sent to them that had political bearing likely to affect favorably the party they were advocating. That is the principle. *203 In that view the Court will rule the evidence admissible." As we have seen, the defendant excepted to the "opinion and decision of the Court." The language thus used by the Court, in the presence of the jury, was certainly calculated to affect the jury and thereby injure the defendant. The Court in effect said that the publication of the circular was a natural consequence of the defendant sending the letter to Mr. Vandiver at that time. The circular being admitted with that statement, the jury might very naturally think that that question was settled by the Court while, as we have seen, it was a question for the jury. If a written instruction had been granted to the effect of what we have quoted, there could be no doubt that it would have been error, and such an oral statement, in the presence of the jury, was calculated to greatly injure the defendant, and perhaps make it useless for his connsel to argue that question before the jury.
We are aware that it is sometimes difficult for the Court to assign reasons for its rulings without saying something that may unintentionally affect the jury. But if a judge makes a statement which shows his opinion of a question of fact which the jury is to pass on, it is very apt to make an impression on some, if not all, of the jurors and great care should be exercised to avoid it. In this case, although it was doubtless altogether unintentional on the part of the learned Judge who presided below, we are convinced that what he said was liable to influence the jury on an important question of fact, and hence it was error for him to make such a statement. If the jury believed the defendant was responsible for the publication of that circular, the damages would doubtless be larger than if the contrary view was taken, as the original letter, if it had not been copied in the circular, would have reached comparatively few persons, if any, other than Mr. Vandiver, to whom it was addressed. The subject is discussed in 11 Ency. of Pl. and Pr., 114, etc., where a number of cases are cited, some of which fully sustain the view we have taken and show that such a statement, made in the presence of the *204 jury, in passing on a question of evidence, is reversible error.
Judgment reversed, appellee to pay the costs and a new trialawarded.
(Decided December 5th, 1901.)