Amasa R. Moore, Appellant v. John M. Francis, Respondents

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's judgment and granted a new trial, holding that the libel question was a matter of law that the trial court must decide, that the jury should have been instructed that the plaintiff was entitled to a verdict with damages as the only issue for the jury, and that evidence of alleged defalcation by the plaintiff was improperly admitted. The court based its decision on established libel principles that unambiguous, admitted publications are judged as law, not fact.