Today it was announced that the jury awarded 1.5 million dollars to this scumbag who sued the widow of American with a SEAL hero Chris Kyle for defamation of character. What a miscarriage of justice. The jury could have ruled Kyle wrong and awarded $1.00. This poor lady loses her husband and then gets hit with an outrageous verdict. I hope she appeals

Jesse The Body must have one hell of a weak ego if he resorts to this shit over a fight story. Some kid in my town said he kicked my ass when the truth is that I beat him senseless in front of like 20 people. The thought of suing him and his family never crossed my mind

yeah, jesse is a real scumbag all right, that's why he filed this lawsuit before this fucking nutter was shot and killed. also, the callousness he showed when he offered to drop the lawsuit in return for a simple apology and retraction, sickening! oh yeah, and the poor widow, right? good thing newscorp insurance isn't going to foot the bill and the money will come right out of her own pocket which will leave her begging on the streets, that is if you overlook the countless million in sales the book has already generated. good thing she probably won't retain the movie right either, we need to get a kickstarter going right now dammit!

for those of you who actually believe the story, look at the history of kyle. the man had some serious issues, being a pathological liar among them. who else remembers the story he told about being carjacked and shooting both of his assailants dead? funny, no police report. another gem, him claiming that he was deployed on top of the superdome during katrina and having shot dead some 30+ looters, despite no evidence whatsoever to go along with his claims. how anybody in their right mind could believe that governor ventura, a decorated veteran in his own right, would spout of such insane comments like "the seals deserved to lose a few" at the wake of a fellow seal is crazy. the guy has been an outspoken war critic for years, constantly saying how horrible it is for these guys to die for a bunch of lies and financial gains.

then the icing on the cake, taking this load of shit to bill o'reilly and the rest of the partisan hacks at that propaganda center, who are no fans of jesse because they don't seem to like people who they can't bully, fuck 'em! this was nothing more than a poorly thought out and poorly executed attempt at character assassination on a guy who doesn't share the views of some and dares to speak out. just more of the same old dirty tricks!

That is messed up, I too hope she appeals and wins. Jesse Ventura is a real piece of work.

Didnt Chris Kyle donate all the proceeds from the book to veterans with disabilities? If I am right about that the ex wrestler got his money by taking it away from Vets who could use it.

This matter isn't about whether the defamer was a hero or served his country or the widow deserves sympathy or whether we like or dislike Ventura.

In winning the verdict, Ventura had to overcome a very substantial burden as a public figure in a libel case, and demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the alleged defamer not only published a falsehood, but did so with malice, meaning that he knew it was false or acted in such reckless disregard of the truth.

Moreover, Ventura established actual damages as a result of the defamatory statements. The jury found that Ventura was precluded from money making appearances and endeavors as a celebrity, based on the defamation. As FF pointed out, Kyle's defamatory stories were incessantly spread by FOXNews, which increased awareness and sales of his book while further damaging the reputation and livelihood of Ventura.

I think if I was that wrestler I would think I need an extra bodyguard with me from now on. No doubt they would appeal and by the time the process is ruled on the wrestler will be in a better place.

I knew a guy that did the wrong thing against one of his own. He was an old guy had a heart attack and died. The day he was being put in the ground at the cementery. Twelve of us showed up at the cemetary and we all took a piss on his casket.

I had never heard these derogatory things about Kyle before and this AM talked with a Special Forces Sgt Major who did have some knowledge about Kyle and felt both of them were worthless. My sympathy is with the widow. I don't know that she would be making millions of dollars in royalties as some have suggested

I'm sure that an appeal will follow, but the chances of overturning the verdict are limited only to possible errors of law or evidentiary matters, preserved by objection. Appellate courts may not overturn the jury's determination that Kyle defamed Ventura as that is an issue of fact.

If Kyle had called him a fat bald ugly fuck Would that have defamed him?

Nope. Such a statement says more about the declarant than its intended object.

Doesn't a trial have two parts, liability and damages?? Can't the defendant just appeal the damages as being excessive??? I've been away from this shit for along time.

Damages in a civil case, like a sentence in a criminal case, may be appealed on grounds that there was an abuse of discretion. What normally happens in these appeals is that the parties settle for a figure close to what the jury awarded. As long as there is a basis on which one can reasonably explain a relationship of compensatory and punitive damages to the harm, the award generally stands.

Public figures rarely prevail on defamation cases due to the extremely difficult burden they have to overcome, and, accordingly, the suits are relatively rare. Carol Burnett was one of the first to succeed in establishing malice when she sued the National Enquirer about 35 years ago.

Thanks Klydon I appreciate the info.

I use to have respect for Jesse Ventura, but not anymore he is a worthless POS for not offering to drop the lawsuit after Chris Kyles death. In case no one is aware of it Jesse's name was never mentioned in the book

The defamation stemmed from the author's subsequent, publicly broadcast remarks that Ventura was the unnamed person in the book, who insulted him. Had the author kept his mouth shut concerning Ventura, there'd have been no suit.