Court Opinion

ID: 9828002
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 18:00:55.869339+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:05:06.776198
License: Public Domain

On Rehearing.
One holding of this court in its original opinion seems to have been misunderstood by appellee. In his motion for rehearing, he seems to consider that we held his petition insufficient because in his petition he did not set out the entire news item appearing in the newspaper, but only such portions thereof as he considered libelous.
Our opinion did not discuss at all the question of the sufficiency of appellee’s petition in the trial court. He had the right to declare on any portion of the article which he conceived to be libelous, but we did hold that by so doing he could not withhold from the court and the jury the entire news item; that, in determining whether or not the particular portion complained of was libelous, those words and phrases should not be considered separate and apart from their settings, but should be construed with reference to the entire news item.
The motion for rehearing has had due consideration, but, being of the opinion that a correct disposition was made of this cause on the original hearing, the motion will be overruled.