68 Pa. Super. 1 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1917
Opinion by
This is an action of trespass for slander. The plaintiff recovered a verdict and judgment in the court below and the defendant appeals. The alleged slanderous statement was made by the defendant in a'speech which he delivered at a public political meeting. The statement of which the plaintiff complains was of considerable length and, as it will appear in the report of the case, it is not necessary that we should in this opinion incorporate the words used save only to the extent necessary to the discussion of the questions involved. The statement of the questions involved contained in the paper book of the appellant sets forth seven questions, but the first, second, third and sixth are but different forms of presenting the vital question in this case, viz: Did the court err in permitting the jury to find that the words spoken by the defendant constituted a charge that the plaintiff had been guilty of the crime of forgery? The remaining questions, as stated by appellant, are “Did the court err in refusing to permit the defendant to tes
The first question above stated is the important one and, in order to properly discuss it, it is necessary that we here quote part of the speech made by the defendant. “The leaders of the Republican machine in this county are dishonest, and if most of them had their just deserts they would be in State prison to-day. I will name some of them as I go along. Tom Garvin, chairman of the Republican County Committee. Now, gentlemen, I will tell you something that may be news to you with reference to Mr. Garvin. Last fall during our campaign a man went into Philadelphia to a......company in Philadelphia and signed a contract agreeing to pay one hundred dollars for posting certain fake Bull Moose and Progressive posters in certain precincts in this county. The man who went and signed that name forged the name of Prank G. Perrin. I don’t hesitate to say that Prank G. Perrin might have done this same thing, but he did not. His name was forged.” The remaining portion of the speech throws no light upon whether the “man who went to Philadelphia” was the plaintiff, nor does it in any way qualify what is above quoted with regard to the forgery of the name of Perrin. The plaintiff had incorporated in his statement, by way of innuendo, that the language above quoted charged him, the plaintiff, with having forged the name of Prank G. Perrin. The appellant contends that the words above quoted cannot be held capable of the meaning attributed to them by the innuendo. This contention is sought to be sustained upon two grounds: First, that the “speech discloses that he (the appellant) expressly avoids mentioning the plaintiff’s name in connection with the statement as to
The next question which appellant states to be involved : “Did the court err in refusing to permit the defendant to testify as to the language used and the intent with which he referred to the plaintiff?” is too broadly
The court did not in its charge treat the words spoken as if they had been written. The court distinctly instructed the jury that unless they found that the defendant had, in the language used, charged the plaintiff with the crime of forgery then their verdict must be in favor of the defendant. The grounds upon which a recovery was permitted were those exclusively applicable in actions for words spoken. There was nothing in the charge from which the jury could have been led to believe that it would be proper for them to render a verdict in favor of the plaintiff without first finding that the words uttered by the defendant had charged the plaintiff with having been guilty of an indictable offense involving moral turpitude and subjecting him to an infamous pun
The judgment is affirmed.