NFT: Jesse Ventura wins $1.8M suit against Chris Kyle's estate

A creditor has to be able to sue an estate, even if the deceased is not a alive to say the creditors claim is false. I guess a claim of defamation is no different.

without I'd imagine it is pretty difficult. In this case you have to prove a knowing falsehood and actual malice. Neither seems demonstrated from the facts that are publicly available. There seems to be a legit factual dispute over whether the broken down husk of a man Chris Kyle punched in the face was in fact Jesse Ventura.

My question then as a layman - why on earth would Mrs. Kyle ' s attorney agree to accept it rather than taking the hung jury?? Seems really foolish in my amateur eyes.

Venture sues a dead man for slander for a criticism no one knew about. His own goddamn life is a slander against itself.

"The Body"

did promote and sell his book by revealing Ventura as the mystery celebrity during media apperances.

On the jury.

You really can't trust newspaper coverage. They seldom print accurate accounts of legal cases and they have a built in bias against a finding of malice.

when the guy you're suing is unavailable to testify.

on TruTV.

"Either way, Ventura is a scumsucking piece of shit,"

In comment 11786200 BillT said:

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"Either way, Ventura is a scumsucking piece of shit,"

BBI quote of the day.

In comment 11786205 Greg from LI said:

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are you referring to this from Wiki? Seems like a moot point. He is a veteran...

Navy SEAL background controversy

Bill Salisbury, an attorney in San Diego and a former Navy SEAL officer, has accused Ventura of "pretending" to be a SEAL. He wrote that Ventura would be blurring an important distinction by claiming to be a SEAL when he was actually a frogman with the UDT. Compared to SEAL teams, UDTs saw less combat and took fewer casualties.[15][114]

Ventura has often implied that he was a SEAL, but has never stated it categorically. Bill Sainsbury described Ventura's Navy training thus:

[Ventura] took a screening test at boot camp to qualify for...Basic Underwater Demolition/seal (buds/s) training...Those who completed bud/s, when [Ventura] was in training, were sent to either a seal or an underwater demolition team. Graduation did not, however, authorize the trainee to call himself a seal or a udt frogman. He had to first successfully complete a six-month probationary period in the Teams.[115]

Although Ventura underwent UDT training, he never attempted the additional 26-week SEAL Qualification Training. On completion of his BUD/S training, Ventura was assigned to a UDT team. In 1983, eight years after Ventura left the Navy, the UDTs were disbanded and those operators were retrained and retasked as SEALs.[114]

Some argue that since Ventura's BUD/S training was common to UDTs and SEALs, and the work of UDTs and SEALs was similar, he is entitled to call himself a SEAL in all but name, but others disagree and hold the view expressed by Bill Salisbury.

Responding to the controversy, Governor Ventura's office confirmed that Ventura was a member of the UDT. His spokesman stated that Ventura has never tried to convince people otherwise.[15] Ventura stated, "Today we refer to all of us as SEALs, that's all it is", and dismissed the accusations of lying about being a SEAL as "much ado about nothing".[114]

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his military career was pretty bad-ass, even if he never went to Vietnam and wasn't exactly a SEAL. But what he did to Kyle's widow is just flat-out despicable. He's a piece of shit.

Agree that the distinction between UDT and SEAL is moot at this point. The annoying part is how throughout his career, both as entertainer and as politician, he portrayed himself as some hardened combat vet when he never saw any action. That's sort of the fantasy he used to build his persona...something that is total opposite of Chris Kyle's own experience.

Ventura is a fucking schmuck whether a veteran or not.

His appearances on Fox News are utter classics.

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Ventura filed the lawsuit to 'get his reputation back' and wound up with a worse reputation. Asshole.

To my knowledge Kyle was deposed and admitted parts of the story weren't true. He wanted to keep it out of the book, his publisher and ghostwriter wanted it in.

I believe they agreed to the split verdict because they wanted to avoid a second trial.

that the publisher is on the hook for most of this

In comment 11786407 schabadoo said:

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To my knowledge Kyle was deposed and admitted parts of the story weren't true. He wanted to keep it out of the book, his publisher and ghostwriter wanted it in. I believe they agreed to the split verdict because they wanted to avoid a second trial.

The media reports have said only that he claimed on video (whether that was a deposition or something unrelated wasn't clear) shortly before his death that it was all accurate.

of Jesse Ventura. He's a piece of human-debris and a first class nutjob. I think he's certainly entitled to an opinion, but he crosses the line by becoming a fame seeking, drama queen.

In comment 11786182 Moondwg said:

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Venture sues a dead man for slander for a criticism no one knew about. His own goddamn life is a slander against itself.

I'm not a fan of Ventura, but that is not a correct statement. The whole story seems to be a fabrication by Kyle, and he mentioned that Ventura was the guy he beat up on mutiple occasions. The interesting aspect was that Ventura sued over the claim that he was a coward.

was mainly around the fact that Kyle said Ventura made a bunch of anti America and anti Seal comments

and none of them discussed the presented evidence that the alleged incident actually took place or not. One story mentioned Kyle recorded a deposition before his death, but says nothing about his statements in that deposition. None of the articles cited anything from anyone else present in the bar at the time. How are we the public supposed to evaluate the justice of this verdict if we aren't even given the basic facts of the matter? Marty is right, general reporting on legal matters sucks.

But I'm wondering, given the state of Ventura's career at the time these statements were made, how the jury could get to $1.8 million in damages. Seems awfully high to me.

Ventura would've dropped the suit if he admitted the story wasn't true. The quote “You deserve to lose a few” was the main reason for the suit.

Yeah, I don't see it.

In comment 11786468 schabadoo said:

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Ventura would've dropped the suit if he admitted the story wasn't true. The quote “You deserve to lose a few” was the main reason for the suit.

The multi-million dollar payout was the "main reason" for the suit.

I guess if that's what you need to believe. He offered to drop the suit if he admitted the story was false.

Jesse Ventura gets laid out in a crowded bar, the police show up, and no one has ever heard the story until six years later when a book is being promoted. How likely does that seem?

sounds like it's about principle.

But Dune, thought you'd get a chuckle out of this one if you haven't seen it already

You'd need to be oblivious or have a mental illness to think that would fly.

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In comment 11786618 WideRight said:

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This guy treated a funeral as a masquerade ball.

In comment 11786618 WideRight said:

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He's at a funeral?


Just a wild guess.

He filed a lawsuit against a live man who he felt defamed him. Jury agreed.

Kyle was warned about keeping the story in there. He knew enough to not name Ventura in the book. It was the interviews that caused the problem.

the verdict should have been enough. Asking his estate (his widow) for $6 mil in reputational damages and being awarded $1.8 did more reputational damage than any punch that may or may not have been thrown.

In comment 11786618 WideRight said:

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The story linked below will fill you in
Link - ( New Window )

I haven't seen the $6 million referenced anywhere.

The bulk of the award was for unjust enrichment.

in the movie about Chris Kyle...and I wonder if Bradley Cooper will punch him out in it.

I mean, Ventura does want to stay in the public's view, no?

Once again I don't like Ventura..but where Kyle went over the line was him claiming on repeated radio shows that this incident happened at a wake for a fallen seal and that Ventura stated "the seals deserve to lose a few" which caused the fight.

In comment 11786689 schabadoo said:

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I haven't seen the $6 million referenced anywhere. The bulk of the award was for unjust enrichment.

Sorry, $5-$15 million is what his attorney asked for
Link - ( New Window )

In comment 11786717 montanagiant said:

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Once again I don't like Ventura..but where Kyle went over the line was him claiming on repeated radio shows that this incident happened at a wake for a fallen seal and that Ventura stated "the seals deserve to lose a few" which caused the fight.

And there still appears to be a factual dispute over whether or not it happened.

the defense accepted a split jury decision that Kyle defamed JV. Therefore, for legal purposes, until an appeal reverses the decision, we have to accept that Kyle defamed JV and that JV is due monetary compensation. The book apparently sold well, and the widow profited from it. Are some of you alleging that she should benefit from ill gotten gain simply because her husband died? it has no bearing on the validity of the lawsuit, or the outcome of it. If you're owed money, you're owed money regardless of whether the person who owes it to you is dead or alive. Boohooing about the poor widow is a mere muddle to enhance preconceived notions of whether JV is a scumbag or not, IMO.

for 1/4 of the book sales. The unjust enrichment claim is laughable. The decision to pursue a lawsuit against a dead man was a money grab and Ventura deserves every ounce of disapprobation he gets from this.

he proves what an idiot he is. It's impossible to defame him.

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“Taya Kyle had all her attorney fees paid by insurance,” Ventura noted. “I did not.” “I’m already damaged,” Ventura said when asked if he had hurt his reputation by seeking restitution even after Kyle’s death. “I can’t go to a SEAL reunion anymore. That was the one place where I always felt safe. I can’t go there anymore without looking over my shoulder now wondering who is going to come after me next.” After seeking sympathy for the consequences of his own actions, Ventura reassured the audience that he has not emerged from this episode “unscathed.” Lacking any empathy or courtesy, Ventura was asked what he planned to do with the winnings after noting that they come at the expense of a widow with two children. “Pay my lawyers,” Ventura said. His response was met with a shocked pause. “I didn’t have an insurance company paying the freight for me. I had to pay my own.”

Link - ( New Window )

In comment 11786728 Dunedin81 said:

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In comment 11786717 montanagiant said: Quote: Once again I don't like Ventura..but where Kyle went over the line was him claiming on repeated radio shows that this incident happened at a wake for a fallen seal and that Ventura stated "the seals deserve to lose a few" which caused the fight. And there still appears to be a factual dispute over whether or not it happened.

Which part is in dispute?
Kyle stated this story on Opie and Anthony and named Ventura.

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I like the guy. Fin wrestler, governor of a state. I don't think he's a scumbag or idiot.

In comment 11786927 Dunedin81 said:

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Yeah Ventura denies the fight, but 11 others testified the fight did occur. Problem is that their testimony was pretty inconsistent and it actually hurt the defense of the lawsuit.