Haub

Action for slander.

Judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for one thousand dollars damages, and the defendant has appealed.

In his complaint the plaintiff alleges that the defendant spoke of and concerning him in the presence of one Gibson and divers other persons the following defamatory words, viz.: “I have a man to prove that George Haub struck Richard Schwartz in front of his place of business; that he had two witnesses who had tracked the bloodstains from Haub’s shop to the place where Schwartz fell unconscious, and that he had proof that Haub was guilty of the murder of Schwartz.” The words thus alleged to have been spoken by the defendant are actionable in themselves, and if false are presumed to have been spoken with malice.

The slander for which a civil action is authorized is defined in section 46 of the Civil Code, and the plaintiff’s cause of action herein is based upon subdivision 1 of that section, which declares that a publication other than libel which falsely charges any person with crime constitutes slander. The complaint in such action may specify the crime alleged to have been imputed to the plaintiff, accompanied by the words in which the crime…