I didn't know anything about this till I read it today. Ventura comes off as pretty crass here I believe.

 

Jesse Ventura just walked away from a defamation lawsuit against late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle with $1.845 million. But the former Minnesota governor and WWE Hall of Famer is clearly walking away with some damage to his reputation as well.

 

A Minnesota jury decided Tuesday that Ventura had been defamed when Kyle alleged he had punched Ventura in a bar in 2006 over comments he made. The sniper claimed Ventura disparaged Navy SEALs and said that they “deserved to lose some” for their actions in the war. Ventura, in turn, insisted the whole event never happened, and the majority of the jury — it was an unusual split 8-2 decision — appeared to agree with him.

 

Jesse Ventura vs. Chris Kyle: A case where no one won - The Washington Post

FWIW Kyle never names him in his book, just calls him Scruff Face...but when asked on a talk show if it was Ventura he nodded.

I thought civil cases just had to be a majority?

I thought civil cases just had to be a majority?

8 to 2 is a majority

8 to 2 is a majority

 

I know but the story I read said something about the two sides agreeing on an 8-2 split rather than a 10-0 decision.

I know but the story I read said something about the two sides agreeing on an 8-2 split rather than a 10-0 decision.

 

OK no idea about the jury split. I was involved with a Federal Civil case and the Jury was polled as to what % they felt each party was to the incident. If the Claimant had won the case but the defendant was only 60% at fault as determined by the jury, they only received 60% of the amount of the verdict.

 

Maybe that's what they meant and just reported it wrong. That they felt this was 80% on Kyle and 20% on Scruff Face.

Tough situation but it seem like a lot of people said Ventura was not there that evening or something along those lines. Not sure why Kyle would make it up though either, only reason is PR but he was a big brand/name himself.

Before I offer up an opinion I would like to hear the basic facts on Ventura's side.

 

Not knowing anything about the case, the verdict would make a reasonable person think Kyle was lying and that he in fact defamed Ventura.

 

Anyone?

Before I offer up an opinion I would like to hear the basic facts on Ventura's side.

 

Not knowing anything about the case, the verdict would make a reasonable person think Kyle was lying and that he in fact defamed Ventura.

 

Anyone?

 

I don't know Ventura's side of the story but the truth is an affirmative defense to defamation, so if the statements were truthful, there would be no claim...

I don't know Ventura's side of the story but the truth is an affirmative defense to defamation, so if the statements were truthful, there would be no claim...

 

Exactly, which means Ventura's side had to offer some pretty compelling testimony.

Is court TV still around? If so this is one I would have liked to have heard the testimony.

So...why does Jessee Ventura need $1.8 million out of this...and from a widow no less? I think that's pretty crappy, but I can obviously see where I think there was some very real defamation that took place.

 

On the flip side, why does someone touting themself in a book as "the deadliest sniper in the history of the Navy SEALs" need to make up a story about disparaging remarks made by one of the more famous Navy SEAL veterans out there, and why does he need to make claims to have punched that guy out? Your answer: to sell more books. Chris Kyle would have sold plenty of copies of his book without the Jessee Ventura anecdote, or his remarks about it made in interviews. If he were still alive, I would bet that there would be relatively little controversy about the suit. Instead, there are two major things effecting this story: 1) Chris Kyle is dead, and thereby the suit has to be filed against his estate - or more clearly, his widow. And 2) Chris Kyle is a dead veteran, and everyone knows that it's bad press to speak ill of the dead, much less a dead veteran.

 

Jessee had no way to come out of this looking clean. All the same, were Chris Kyle still around to stand in court, I don't think I'd feel too bad for Jessee to take a 1.8 million dollar bite out of Chris Kyle's $6 million in book sales.

I'd feel much better if they kept the $500,000 for damages and threw out the $1.35m in "enrichment" penalties. Can't see that particular story driving the book sales numbers.

Anybody that goes into a Navy bar in San Diego and says bad things about SEALS is an IDIOT. Ventura seems to be slightly smarter than that, making me think the sniper made up the whole thing.

Side note: Lawsuit was initially filed in January 2012. Chris Kyle was killed on February 2, 2013. It's not like Ventura decided to sue the guy's widow. He filed suit against a living breathing person, who then died a year into the proceedings.