215

Any landholder who, by himself or through any of his employees, wilfully and maliciously damages or destroys the crop, or a part thereof, of a sharecropper, or who tears down any fence or paling of the property cultivated by the sharecropper, or who turns his cattle loose on the farm of the sharecropper, with the intention of damaging the crops, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five ($25) or more than five hundred dollars ($500).In any of the above cases, the sharecropper shall have a right to a claim for damages through a civil action; Provided, That when malice on the part of the landlord is proved, the court shall sentence him, as a punishment, to pay to the sharecropper an additional sum of not to exceed fifty dollars ($50). History —May 4, 1931, No. 76, p. 466, § 15, eff. 90 days after May 4, 1931.