Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

6 Va. 13

Grant v. Hover

Supreme Court of Virginia

Decided October 27, 1817

Supreme Court of Virginia · decided 1817-10-27

THIS was au action of slander brought by the appellee against the appellant in the Superior Court of Kanawha County. The declaration charged the defendant with having said that the plaintifF was a peijured rascal, meaning thereby that the plaintiff was guilty of swear-lug falsely in a judicial proceeding where he was Icgaily called upon to depose, and a lawful oath administered to him.

Decided 1817-10-27

Judge Roane

¶1delivered the Court’s opinion.

¶2The Court is of opinion that, altho’ it might have been improper to have permitted the appellant, in this case, to prove the falsity of the words charged to have been sworn before the magistrate, and thus, upon the plea of not guilty, to fix upon the appellee indirectly the charge of perjury, it was competent for the appellant to draw from the witness what those words were, in mitigation of damages: it being evident that the character of the words in question may have had a tendency to mitigate or aggravate those damages.

¶3The Judgment is, therefore, to be reversed, and a new trial granted, in which the question propounded by the appellant, is to be answered, if requested.

/6/va/13 · .json · Public domain