Spoliation

In English ecclesiastical law. An injury done by one clerk or incumbent to another, in taking the fruits of his benefice without any right to them, but under a pretended title. 3 Bl. Comin. 90, 91. The name of a suit sued out in the spiritual court to recover for the fruits of the church or for the church itself. Fitzh. Nat Brev. 85. In torts. Destruction of a thing by the act of a stranger, as the erasure or alteration of a writing by the act of a stranger, is called "spoliation." This has not the effect to destroy its character or legal effect. 1 Greeui. Ev. § 566; Medlin v. Platt County, 8 Mo. 239, 40 Am. Dec. 135; Crockett v. Thomason, 5 Sneed (Tenn.) 344.