Jury Awards Ventura $1.8M In Defamation Case

I remember watching a tv show and also a radio interview with this guy talking about punching JV. I mean he really made it a point to go around boasting about beating him up. I say JV deserves the cash. Everones gotta pay the bills.

OG

The ex-Governor certainly is a colorful fellow and one that not afraid to speak his mind. Love him or Hate him , he is legally allowed to take his case to american court and then let the court decide his case. In this case the courts ruled in favor of mr Janos (Ventura's real name).

When i read about the account of Kyle punching this scruffy ex-SEAL (Ventura) , my 1st reaction was why a young operator would punch an old man like that ? For me , it certainly showed the mindset of Kyle as a guy who so used to violence to solve problem. It didnt bode well for the SEAL community as a whole if this behaviour is common in the SEAL operators these days..

I'm glad the punching incident was proven to be a hoax to promote the book. In this , mr Kyle is not alone. Many ex-military add some fictional stuff in their books , for example the famous (or infamous) Rogue Warrior : Dick Marcinko..

a reply to: Swills

Here's another article on this. I have to say I agree with the article. Jesse Ventura has managed to give Navy Seals a bad name. As a 20 year Navy veteran, he sickens me. What he did in suing the widow of Chris Kyle is disgusting.

sofrep.com...

a reply to: ChiefD

What he did to the widow? Perhaps you should read through this read because he didn't do anything to her. She and her husband were given plenty of chances to right what was wrong, they choose not too.

How about what Kyle did to Ventura? Kyle didn't have to name Ventura, but he did which not only can and will cause Ventura's career in TV to vanish but, and more importantly, his reputation amongst the SEAL/Military community was forever damaged. Had Ventura not fought he would be basically saying he was guilty.

Ventura sued the the estate and the book's publisher/insurance. I'm sure the widow will do just fine her millions. Although, I've read that she may try to now sue Ventura, which will probably not go her way causing her to lose large sums of money.

It's over so she should now just go on with her life.

a reply to: Swills

How about what Kyle did to Ventura?

How about what Kyle did to the reputation of Seals in general - vain glory fibbers whose tell-all books made the Seals look like a bunch of psychos out to punish the world.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

I don't think the SEALs are looking any worse because of what Kyle did. He's not the first ex military member to exaggerate his story in order to make a profit, nor will he be the last. The victims here are Jesse and the widow, but the blame is unfairly being put on Ventura when clearly this all started with Kyle. Kyle did it for the money to sell his book. Kyle claims he knocked Jesse out in 2006 but for 6 years kept quiet about it until he wrote his book. Same goes for all the so called witnesses, for 6 years they were quiet? It's all BS and I'm happy to see it cleared up in court.

But unfortunately Ventura has been forever damaged by this.

Ventura testified that since "American Sniper" was published in 2012, he no longer feels welcome at Navy SEALs reunions.

Clearly there are many younger generations of SEALs who believe Kyle's story. People are easily manipulated, just look at some posters in this thread.

But the good news is that this bullspit story that Kyle made up will be pulled from the book.

Publisher to drop Ventura story from 'American Sniper' but image and legal battles aren't over

a reply to: Swills

If he was a stand up guy who just wanted to clear his name he could have taken the court victory plus court costs and declined the majority of the sum awarded to him.If not for his ego he could have helped out a innocent widow of a murdered hero and declined the judgement while at the same time declaring victory.He would have boosted his popularity 10 fold and his personal clout would have skyrocketed.1.8 million is nothing compared to what he could have pulled in with speaking engagements,personal appearances,and everything that goes with having public adoration.Now, most think he`s a cold hearted , self important, douche-bag who has lost legions of fans due to his treatment of Chris Kyles wife.
It`s pretty obvious that his feelings of self importance outweighed any ability to feel compassion for this poor woman and it`s clear enough for most to see this. I think whether its in politics or tv, his career is now effectively over.

The wife was complicit in the fraud. She proved this by paying off witnesses and refusing to drop the chapter from the book. Why should she be allowed to keep money earned from a lie?

a reply to: fartsmeller46

American tend to forget that NAVY SEALs are humans just like everyone else and they also infaliable as humans do.

I remember reading a book about a SEAL TEAM 1 member who shot women and children in Rung Sat special zone just because it is a free fire zone, he was arrested back home when he tried to rape a woman (a date gone bad). The SEALs also have people transferring out from SEALS when they got the order for vietnam deployment (call it forward thinking or cowards its not for us to judge).

Conflict even among SEALs pretty common in those vietnam days, accusation of cowardice or lack of tactical abilities or lack of common sense and many others..

These came to light mostly from the books by ex-SEAL veteran , which also (some of them) filled with accusation and fictional 'padding'..

Anyone remember Mike Walsh ? a SEAL that was in CIA's phoenix program in vietnam ? he was deployed in south american area and work with many nasty intelligence types.. even he got axe to grind in his book when he was recruited for SEAL TEAM 6 by Richard Marcinko. He got into argument with marcinko and then left the interview , and saying pretty damning things about marcinko in the book..

There's also a bit about a CIA covert team composed of NAVY SEALs that was wiped out in Venezuelan jungle because their CIA helicopter didnt pick them up (aka abandoned the team). If anyone got the details on that debacle please share. One of the dead SEAL was called Joe Camp from SEAL TEAM 2.

a reply to: fartsmeller46

Your entire post is all assumptions based off of your emotional responses to this case. You don't like Jesse. Truth is the widow didn't pay for any of court costs or lawyers, the books publishing insurance company did. Jesse on the other hand paid for it all out of his pockets and by the hour. His lawyers aren't taking a cut of the settlement which is common in many lawsuit cases, so had Jesse lost he would have lost god knows how much money.

As far as your assumptions on how much he makes during a speaking engagement, well you're wrong. Half the reason Jesse sued is because of Kyle's lies which directly caused his monetary loses.

So all you Kyle supporters were okay with his book making him money based off lies but you're not okay with Ventura trying to clear his name so he can make a living as a public figure?

The ignorance is strong in this thread.

a reply to: Swills

I don't wish to comment on the topic because I feel you and others have already represented my point of view and opinion. I am however happy to see other Opie and Anthony fans!

originally posted by: raymundoko
The wife was complicit in the fraud. She proved this by paying off witnesses and refusing to drop the chapter from the book. Why should she be allowed to keep money earned from a lie?

a reply to: fartsmeller46

Again...to be crystal clear...this court decision did not rule on the veracity of the claim...whether it was true...it only ruled on whether Jesse was "defamed" by the publication of the story.

You obviously don't know what defamed means...

Defamed means to damage ones character through slander or libel...

Do you know what those words means?

To win a defamation case you have to prove lies were told about you.

a reply to: Indigo5

originally posted by: raymundoko
You obviously don't know what defamed means...

Defamed means to damage ones character through slander or libel...

Do you know what those words means?

To win a defamation case you have to prove lies were told about you.

a reply to: Indigo5

Nothing personal...but if you are going to come with attitude..know your SH*& and provide proof of your claims...

The ruling remains controversial as 11 witnesses were presented testifying in support of Kyle's account, stating that Ventura did have an altercation with Kyle in the bar. However, the judge instructed the jurors that "they weren't charged with determining whether Ventura was punched, but rather whether he was defamed by the remarks Kyle attributed to him.

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Indigo5

HAH, you just made yourself look so foolish and ignorant:

From your link:

but rather whether he was defamed by the remarks Kyle attributed to him.

So the Jurors weren't' to determine if it was true if Mr. Ventura was punched or not, they were to determine if Mr. Kyle LIED about what Mr. Ventura said.

What was it Chris Kyle claimed Jesse Ventura said:

Kyle’s claims that Ventura said he hated America, thought the U.S. military was killing innocent civilians in Iraq and that the SEALs “deserve to lose a few”

So you are extremely confused about this whole situation. The law suit wasn't about whether Mr. Ventura was punched or not, it was about what he said. He could care less if he got punched and said that several times, although he denies that ever happened. The suit never ever said ANYTHING about him getting punched. It specifically referred ONLY to the claims that he made anti American and anti American troop statements.

So you should take this note: Actually read the stuff you are trying to talk about. That way you don't look foolish and ignorant.

Edit: The Judges directions were to reiterate to the Jury that the case had nothing to do with getting punched, and everything to do with the remarks that had been attributed to Jesse Ventura.

Is there anywhere official where we can read about the trial?

Something like court records with details?

originally posted by: raymundoko
a reply to: Indigo5

HAH, you just made yourself look so foolish and ignorant:

From your link:

However, the judge instructed the jurors that "they weren't charged with determining whether Ventura was punched, but rather whether he was defamed by the remarks Kyle attributed to him.

So the Jurors weren't' to determine if it was true if Mr. Ventura was punched or not, they were to determine if Mr. Kyle LIED about what Mr. Ventura said.

You might want to check the attitude? More so while demonstrating ignorance?

The definition of defamation means to "Damage the good reputation"

The judge specifically instructed them that they were to only determine if Jesse Ventura's reputation was damaged by what Chris Kyle published. They were specifically told that they were not responsible for determining the truth of the account.

Please learn the definition of the words...before calling other people "foolish".

a reply to: Indigo5

You might want to put your shovel down, you are just digging yourself deeper.

Dictionary.com

de·fame
diˈfām/Submit
verb
past tense: defamed; past participle: defamed
damage the good reputation of (someone) through slander or libel

slan·der
ˈslandər/Submit
nounLAW
1.
the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

li·bel
/ˈlībəl/
noun
noun: libel; plural noun: libels
1.
Law
a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation.

You can't wriggle your way out of your ignorance. You just have to learn from it and be less ignorant.

Legal Definition of Defamation:

en.wikipedia.org...

Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, or traducement—is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.

Under common law, to constitute defamation, a claim must generally be false and have been made to someone other than the person defamed.

Some common law jurisdictions also distinguish between spoken defamation, called slander, and defamation in other media such as printed words or images, called libel.

A person who defames another may be called a "defamer", "famacide", "libeler" or "slanderer".

So no matter how you define it, Defamation involved LYING about someone.

So yes, the Jury decided that Chris Kyle was 100% full of bs when he attributed those statements to Jesse Ventura. Did he punch Jesse? Probably. Did Jesse say the things Chris Kyle attributed to him? A jury says no.

Edit: You have confused a ruined reputation with a defamed reputation. If a congressman solicits a prostitute and some witnesses see it or have proof of it and report it to the media, that congressman's reputation is ruined. However, if the witnesses did not see it but claimed they did, they have now defamed the congressman's reputation. He can sue them for defamation and force them to recant.

If those people defamed him and went on to write a book about it, he could then sue them for defamation and a monetary compensation. If it was true and they wrote a book about it, there is nothing he can do, because it is true.

I really can't believe this has to be explained to someone who has interjected themselves into a thread pertaining to judiciary matters, albeit civil.

a reply to: raymundoko

Nicely done, but understand your posts are falling on deaf ears.. so to speak.

On a side noted, Kyle never punched Jesse. As I've posted numerous times in this thread, Kyle claimed the police were involved yet there are no police reports or police themselves confirming this story. Jesse says he never met Kyle, not until Kyle decided to run his mouth on national TV and Radio.

Just so you know, from a family if military myself, police don't file reports if they don't have to against soldiers, especially decorated combat veterans who were special forces...

So could Jesse have been punched? Sure. No police report needed. Jesse didn't put that in the lawsuit for a reason...he only cared about the statements attributed to him.

I however don't believe the altercation ever took place, and all the witnesses were so hammered that Chris could have said "did you see me punch Ventura last night bro" and they'd have been all "totally brah, let's go be stereotypical military dicks again tonight!"

a reply to: Swills