Chavez

This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment in favor of the defendant in an action for libel, given on sustaining a demurrer to his complaint without leave to amend. The action was founded on a publication in the “Los Angeles Times.” The demurrer was both general and special.

Counsel have devoted themselves almost exclusively to the general demurrer for want of facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, the claim of respondent in this regard being in brief that, in view of certain matters of which it is said the court must take judicial notice, the complaint shows that the published article was in all substantial respects true. [1] As the truth of the charge is a complete defense in a civil action for damages for libel, it is plain that if the complaint itself shows the truth of the charge, the demurrer was properly sustained. Whether or not it does so show is the principal question on this appeal. The complaint alleges that plaintiff is, and has been for more than eleven years, an attorney at law, engaged in the practice of his profession principally in the county of Los Angeles, and that he always, prior to the publication complained of, enjoyed a good name and…