Elsinore C. MacHris Gilliland, Also Known as Elsinore MacHris Gilliland v. Faye Lyons

Appellee filed an amended complaint •on November 20, 1956, in the United States District Court stating three separate causes of action. The ground as to •each cause of action was, in substance, as follows: number one, that appellant had published false, malicious and slanderous statements concerning appellee’s adulterous relationship with appellant’s husband; number 2, that appellant had falsely and maliciously published a verified cross-complaint on November 26, 1955, in a divorce proceeding against her husband charging appellee with adultery; and number 3, that appellant had caused a newspaper article to be published on March 23, 1956, reciting the allegations in the above complaint. Appellant’s answer, in addition to denying the above allegations, set up an affirmative defense of truth as to the first and third causes of action, and an affirmative •defense of privilege as to the second cause of action.

The District Court, sitting without a jury, entered Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law favorable to appellant on all three causes of action. The court ruled, however, that since appellant did not raise the “specific defense” of truth in the second cause of action, no…