SLANDER ACTION.
CLAIM FOR £200 DAMAGEB.
THE CASE STRUCK OUT.
An action for slander was to have occupied the attention of Mr Justice Williams in the Supreme Court on the 10th Garibaldi Botting, of North-East Valley, near Dunedin, cattle deader, sued James Walker, o* Naseby, hotelkeeper, for £200 damages, alleging that on May 31 last, at Naseby, the defendant falsely and maliciously slandered him to Peter Botting, Philip Brown, and Thomas John Brosnan, by accusing him of cattle stealing-. The defendant denied the allegation. Mr Adams appeared for the plaintiff; Mr Hanlon, with M,r Davey, of Naseby, for the defendant. Mr Adams said, as the result of a conference that morning- .between the parties, tihe plaintiff had satisfied himself — and was content to accept the absolute statement of the defendant-- that nhe defendant never made use of the words set out, and had no intention of slandering him. The case was a small on© from some points of view, but it was a eerious one for the plaintiff, inai much as it affected him in his business, assuming the words had been said. His Honor said it depended on whom the words were spoken to. Mr Adams agreed, and said the plaintiff disclaimed any animosity in bringing the action, and accepted the express denial which the defendant had made, not only in hip statement of defence, but through his counsel, that morning The plaintiff was willing 1 , therefore, that the case should be struck Aout, each party paying his own costs.
Mr Hanlon sad that what Mr Adams had stated was exactly what had occurred. The defendant had placed upon record th£t he did not make use of the words. There had evidently been some misunderstanding on the part of those who were supposed to hear t.ho words, because the defendant did not known the plaintiff, and certainly could ■not have known, tuid did not know, anything against his character.
Mr Adams added that the action, was not brought without an apparently 6trong foundation. Two witnesses had made definite statements, and one of tibem, in his presence had affirmed his statement. It now turned out that they were not prepared to make the same statements. The witnesses had gone " bad " in the interval. He mentioned that fact to indicate that the plaintiff accepted the defendant's statement with greater frankness on that account.
Mr Hanlon said he did not know that his friend had any right to say the witnesses had gone " bad," the fact being that the first btatomenta Ihey made were statements they njado to the solicitor for the defendant. Mr Adams : Oh, tio. Mr Hanlon 6aid the statements were made before any letter was written threatening an action, and they were to the effect that they heard no defamatory words used. Apparently, since then, the witnesses had 1 made statements that they did hear such words, and r.ow, as far as he could make out, they didn't know exactly where they were, and were not prepared to say either one thing or the other.
Mr Adams said the first statement was made within a few hours of the alleged ocoarrenoa. His Honor said the case would be Btruck out.
PILES CURED IN 6 TO 14 DATS. PAZO OINTMENT is guaranteed to cure any case of Itching. Blind, Bleeding, or Protruding- Piles in 6 to 14 days or money refunded. 2s 3d.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19090818.2.50
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 12
Word count
Tapeke kupu
563SLANDER ACTION. Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 12
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Witness. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.