This case is about slaves or slavery.
| Year: | 1806 |
| Citation: | 2 H. & J. 247 |
| Jurisdiction: | Maryland |
| People: | Charles |
| Short Summary: | Action of slander for an accusation that the plaintiff poisoned the defendant's horse. The statement was "my horse is poisoned, and will die, and Robert Cruikshanks had done it, and that he had furnished a certain negro Charles with oil of vitriol, which the said negro Charles had rubbed upon him, and that he also believed that the same was premeditated." The court appealed the trial cour's judgement and held that the claim was not actionable, most likely because the horse was still alive, though the court offers no explanation. Note that the plaintiff is "a 19 year-old infant." |
| Law type: | |
| Full name: | Chaplin vs. Cruikshanks |
| Court: | Court of Appeals of Maryland |