9 Jul 2014
STEPHENSON v JONES [2014] NZHC 1604
- Citation
- [2014] NZHC 1604
- Court
- High Court
The defendant's strike out application was dismissed because, applying the established High Court and appellate tests, the words complained of were not so incapable of bearing the pleaded meaning (that the plaintiff 'lied') that a jury would be perverse to find that meaning; the earlier trial ruling did not create issue estoppel preventing re-litigation at retrial, and leave under r 7.52 was justified given the circumstances of the prior trial.