Case Name: Dexter against Taber
Court: New York Supreme Court of Judicature
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1815-05
Citations: 12 Johns. 239
Docket Number: 
Parties: Dexter against Taber.
Judges: 
Reporter: Johnson's Reports
Volume: 12
Pages: 239–242

Head Matter:
Dexter against Taber.
In an action werA‘‘you are a’damned thief.” The words as piwaréTthW.you p°ieS han°| saw logs from off Velmcey's and f"n<r* Myers’
h<The Judge, the cause was tried, left it to timjury toViethe^roi^prov^ dan^meah^to pS?ffhfwith or^hop^ofes aIiead7 , ft down, in which case it would felony,1’oí66 °f weremeantom ’piaMff^with make hoop-poles; in which case it could amount only to a trespass, and the words would not then be actionable, and the . . 4 „ , having found a verdict for the defendant, the court refused to set it aside*
THIS was an action of slander, and was tried at the Ilerldmer Circuit, the 30th of May, 1814, before Mr. Justice Van Ness. The words charged were, “ you (the plaintiff) are a thief; you, (the plaintiff) are a damned
, _ , The words proved at the trial to have been spoken by the defendant were : “ You (the plaintiff) are a thief, you stole hoop poles and saw logs from off Delancefs and Judge Myers’ » lana.
The witnesses said, that they supposed the words spoken, alluded to the cutting of standing timber, but they did not know the defendant’s meaning.
. til - i« /.i -..i The judge told the jury, that it was for them to decide, w'hether the words, as pro ved, amounted to a charge of theft, or of trespass merely; that if, by the words, the defendant meant to charge the plaintiff with secretly taking timber already cut into hoop poles and saw logs, it was a charge of theft; but if they meant only that the plaintiff had secretly cut and carried away v V i# J timber from off the land, m order to make hoop poles, &c. it amounted to a charge of trespass only ; and, in that case, the words were not actionable; and that this was his impression as to the meaning of the words. The jury found a verdict for the defendant.
A motion was made to set aside the verdict, and for a new trial1.
H. Bleecker, for the plaintiff.
__ . _ He cited Cro. Jac. 166. Yelv. 152. Ld. Raym. 959.
Storrs, contra.
He cited 1 Johns. Cases, 279.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
The motion for a new trial must be denied. The slanderous words charged in the declaration are, that the defendant said, to the plaintiff, 11 You are a thief." The witness who proved the speaking of these: words, went on to explain in what connexion, and in reference to what subject the words were spoken, to wit, " You are a thief, you have stolen hoop poles and saw logs from off Delancey's and Judge Myers's land," alluding to certain wood lands belonging to those persons. The charge thus made may be equivocal and somewhat doubtful ; and had the whole charge, as made and proved, been set out in the declaration; and if this was a motion in arrest of judgment, it might well be contended that the words import a charge of felony. But it wag correctly stated to the jury, that if the defendant intended to charge the plaintiff with taking hoop poles and saw logs, already cut, it was a charge of felony. But if he only meant to charge him with cutting and carrying them away, it was only charging him with having committed a trespass. And in what sense the words were intended to be used was for the jury to determine. This point is well settled, both in our own, and in the English courts, (1 Johns. Ca. 279. Wm. Black. Rep. 959. Cowp. 278. 9 East, 96.) The terms ?s hoop poles" and " saw logs," in common parlance, are used indiscriminately, as applicable both to standing and felled timber of these descriptions. And the jury have found, that the words were used in the former sense ; and, of course, not amounting to a charge of felony. And the facts in the case fully warrant the finding pf the jury.