Viewing Leila W. Roller v. Minneapolis Journal (1890).Leila W. Roller v. Minneapolis Journal (1890).Around midnight on June 7, 1890, a squad of policemen raided Madame Leppla's "house of assignation" in South Minneapolis. There they arrested several men and women. During the raid Mme. Leppla was knocked down by a policeman, who she then sued for personal injuries. As that trial ended the defendant-officer was asked by a spectator, the husband of Mrs. Leila Roller, if she was present during the famous raid. He replied that she was and that became part of a story about the trial printed by the Minneapolis Journal. Claiming that the article implied that she was immoral and was false, Mrs. Roller sued the Journal for libel in Hennepin County District Court, asking for $25,000. The case was tried to a struck jury over two days, October 27-28, 1890. The jury after a few minutes of deliberation with its verdict.
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