5 Paige Ch. 54 | New York Court of Chancery | 1835
The statement in the answer which is covered by these exceptions, if it is not responsive to the bill or material to the defence of the suit, is not only impertinent, but is a gross slander upon one who is not a party to the suit, as well as upon the complainant. And the counsel who puts his hand to such scandalous and impertinent matter, is not only liable to the animadversions of the court, but is also chargeable with the costs of the proceedings, to have it expunged from the records of the court. (Mitf. Pl., Edw. ed., 48, 318.) It certainly could make no difference, as to the complainant’s right of off-set, whether he had slandered the defendant to gratify his own malice, or merely as the convenient tool of another. For that slander, with all its aggravations, the defendant Torrey had the right to appeal to a jury of his country for redress; and the complainant having been convicted of the slander, I am bound to presume the jury has given against him such damages as were proper, under the circumstances as disclosed at the trial. The statement excepted to in
The counsel whoso name is put to a pleading containing scandalous or impertinent matter is personally liable to the adverse party for the costs of the proceedings to expunge the scandal or impertinence. (Doe v. Green, 3 Paige,. 349.) So if a solicitor files a scandalous affidavit, he is guilty of a contempt of the court, and may be personally charged with th'e expense of taking'it offofthe files. . (Ex parte Wake, 1 Mont. & Bligh’s Rep. 259.)