Jesse Ventura wins $1.8 million in defamation suit

Published on 29 Jul 2014

A jury awarded former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura $1.8 million for a defamation suit he filed against Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The SEAL, who was killed on a shooting range in February 2013, claimed in a bestselling book that he had punched Ventura in a bar fight after the governor made derogatory remarks about the elite military unit.RT's Ameera David speaks with Ventura to get his thoughts on the win, as well as the backlash from pushing forward with the lawsuit after Kyle's death.

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Jesse Ventura wins $1.8million defamation suit against estate of America's deadliest sniper: Chris Kyle's widow ordered to pay up over story of 2006 bar fight

Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL, claimed in his book American Sniper that he punched Ventura at a SEAL bar in California in 2006

Kyle claimed on Fox News that Ventura, himself a former SEAL, had said the SEALs 'deserved to lose a few, over their behavior in Iraq

Kyle was murdered by a fellow veteran in February 2013Ventura then sued Kyle's widow Taya Kyle, who inherited the $6million fortune made from the book...

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Published on 29 Jul 2014

Jesse Ventura was awarded $1.8 million in "American Sniper" defamation case.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- A jury awarded former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura $1.8 million on Tuesday in his lawsuit against the estate of "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle.

The federal jury decided that the 2012 best-selling book defamed Ventura in its description of a bar fight in California in 2006. Kyle wrote that he decked a man whom he later identified as Ventura after the man allegedly said the Navy SEALs "deserve to lose a few."

Ventura testified that Kyle fabricated the passage about punching him. Kyle said in testimony videotaped before his death last year that his story was accurate.

The jury reconvened on Tuesday, and both sides agreed to split the verdict 8 to 2, the New York Times reported. The panel then awarded the former professional wrestler and governor $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for what they termed the author's unjust enrichment.

During closing arguments, Ventura attorney David Bradley Olson said he believes Kyle's estate earned more than $6 million from the book.

Ventura testified that his income as a TV personality fell sharply in the wake of "American Sniper." Borger said Ventura's career as an entertainer was in decline well before that.

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Published on 29 Jul 2014

The jury reached a verdict just after 1 p.m. Tuesday. The jury awarded Ventura $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for unjust enrichment. That brings the total to $1.8 million.

Jurors had been deliberating the Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's defamation lawsuit against "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle for nearly six days.

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