1.8 big ones. News just in on the pricks windfall suit in Ca.

Sure to win him Lots of friends....

Guy will now be a pariah.

It sucks that he had to sue Kyle's ole lady but the event never happened. Now one has to wonder if Kyle's book is littered with fiction and/or delusion.

While I appreciate both, I'm a fan of niether.

The insurance company will pay out, not the widow.

I could retire on 1.8... Jesse ought to do just that. I don't think anyone really wants much more out of him.

Bummer. He wanted 5 to 15 mill. He got 1.8. Maybe the jury wasn't so convinced after all. Apparently 11 witnesses testified for the defense that, more or less, it happened the way Kyle said. Were their stories that inconsistent?? Jesse had witnesses who said it never happened at all. Interesting.

The suit was heard in fed court in Minneapolis I believe. Not Kali.

The Liberals say Obama has done a good job, the Republicans say he hasn't

The news item I read said that after the jury could not agree, that the judge then instructed them that they did not have to decide whether the event happened but whether Kyle's written and verbal comments defamed Ventura.

I'm not lawyer enough to figure out that logic.

Also, after the jury could not agree, the lawyers for both sides agreed to accept a non-unanimous decision with only (8 or 10?) behind it.

Almost sounds like the judge and both lawyers wanted a decision so badly that they were willing to bend the rules to get one. Seems odd but maybe that is SOP.

No, that is not right. Truth is always a defense to defamation. Thus, the jury HAD to decide if Kyle had told the truth or not. Since, in his own deposition before he died, he admitted that he had not told the truth regarding the incident, that part was a pretty easy decision. The jury then had to decide if Ventura was damaged and then put a monetary amount to that damage. That was necessarily more difficult.

What happened was that the jury told the judge they were deadlocked. The lawyers for the Kyle estate then approached Ventura's lawyers and the judge and proposed to accept a less than unanimous verdict. Ventura's lawyers said they would be happy with a 6-4 decision and Kyle's said they would accept an 8-2 decision. So, eight it was and...eight it was...the other way.

Eight people decided Kyle was a liar based on the evidence heard at trial and Kyle's attorneys seriously misjudged what was going on in the jury room.

It's gratifying to see justice done. People shouldn't be enriched from the lies they (or their spouses) tell in publication form or otherwise.

How do you defame an azzhole by saying its an azzhole.

The jury disagreed with you based on the evidence.

Makes no difference to me he still is a douche.
As for him getting any money out of me he will be in for a long wait.
Wonder if she would take a donation?

By making up bullstuff stories as to why he is an [bleep].

The preponderance of evidence is different in a civil suit vs a criminal case. Chris was not there to give his side of the story. Chris isn't a liar and Jesse is who we all know him to be, a POS.

Also, Chris didn't make a penny from the book as he gave all proceeds to the family of his fallen teammates

Chris told the truth and JohnnyLoco can go F himself

^^^This^^^

Ventura is low life shiit eating POS! Chris told the truth. He was a humble guy and didn't need to lie!

Very sad

Snake

Juries get things wrong sometimes.

Yep the douche bag should have just got a kick in the nuts for being a whiner....cry baby.

JV may have gotten his 1.8 mil, but I think his reputation will be damaged even more because the average Joe will percieve him as taking food of the plate of a dead war hero's widow. There is also a perception that he couldn't accept a loss in a bar fight and so had to take it to court.

Joe Bob, what did Kyle say in his depo? Did he admit that he did not punch JV? Just curious.'

Thanks,

Jordan

The case isn't over.

Actually, he was in a way. He gave a deposition before he died and he admitted in said deposition that he made most of the story about Ventura up.

No, he sued Cris Kyle. When Kyle died, the suit continued, but now it was the Kyle estate. Kyle was unjustly rewarded for defaming Jesse Ventura. Now Jesse got to prove it was a lie in open court.

Still a douchebag aren't you doveeye

What do you see happening next? An appeal?

So if you serve in the military you can't be sued for libel or slander? What meeting did I miss at which this rule was passed?

Proof of this?

Well the case was held in Eden Prairie MN, good ol Hennepin County...why am I not surprised of the outcome.... its asinine this case ever saw the light of day..but then my faith in the Hennepin County leftist liberal court system is ZERO....

The operative word here being "most", not "all".

But, if'n I were Jesse Ventura I'd turn around and give the money back, or donate ALL of it to some veterans-related cause and state that all I really wanted was to clear my name.

If his does that he wins back respect, do otherwise and he proves his critics right.

JMHO,
Birdwatcher

He still maintained that he punched Ventura, but he admitted that Ventura probably hadn't said the things he accused him of saying, he said tables did not go flying and the like as he said in his book, and he was really hazy on whether it happened inside or outside the bar.

I'm not a litigious fellow, but were somebody to state I said something like that about our service members, I'd probably take every recourse available.

And if you died, I'd probably continue forward.



Travis

I imagine Ventura is a modestly well off fellow, but I would be surprised if his entire net worth is more than $10 million. Heck, it might be MUCH less than that. The point?

Well, these things take on a life of their own. After the attorneys get involved expenses mount in a hurry. I figure on a deal like this with a thirty to forty percent contingency fee and costs, somewhere between half a million and a million of that is going to go to the attorneys, if they ever see or collect on the judgment. Ventura has a contract with his attorneys and I'm sure that if he were to magnanimously set aside the judgment on his own as some on this board would like, then he is going to owe that much to his attorneys. So, not being a filthy rich guy, he couldn't do that if he wanted to do it.

I would still be interested in a source for this information. Thanks.

so I am reading up on this guy and apparently he's made some rather startling claims post war.

One reporter has written that Chris Kyle claimed to have killed 30 civilians from atop the Superdome in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina?

don't you go to jail for that or at least get investigated?

It ain't rocket science, he could state exactly what you said, and then turn around and give back or donate all of the award that accrued to him. I'd guess that there are many folks out there who would do exactly that.

Again JMHO,
Birdwatcher

Rather than have you continue to passive aggressively insinuate that I am lying, I'll give you a tip.

Go to this neat place called Google. A search box will appear. In said search "Chris Kyle deposition". Then, press "enter". Magically, a list of article responsive to that search will appear. Click on the very first one. It is an article from the Minnesota Star Tribune about the trial. It tells what was shown in court from Chris Kyle's video deposition.

Unverifiable legacy

My opinion:

It's pretty clear that Kyle was fabricating the Ventura story.

Regardless, I don't know what Ventura gains by pursuing this lawsuit against Kyle's estate. Kyle is somewhat of a national hero, and public opinion is gonna go against Ventura regardless of the facts.

This is really about Ventura's ego, and Kyle's ego. They are essentially the same (type of) person, personality wise. The main difference is that Kyle has killed a bunch of people, and Ventura only killed those mexicans in the Predator.

I don't agree with that at all.

To state that somebody said that about American service members is a pretty horrific allegation IMO. If it were just getting punched, I could see the point about ego. But that's not the whole story.



Travis

did jesse ever deny making the statement, or just getting his ass kicked?

He adamantly denies making that statement.

(Based on what I've read of course)



Travis

It really is a tale of modern America.

Carlos Hathcock went to war as kid from rural Arkansas who had grown up hunting and fishing. He became a sniper and fought just about the toughest enemy we have ever faced in just about the toughest conditions imaginable. When he came home, he came home to obscurity and liked it. But for a small book written about him nearly twenty years after most of the stuff happened, no one outside of sniper and competitive shooting circles would know who he was. I read his book, and the only joy he ever expressed about killing someone was when he shot the female VC officer because of what she had been doing to soldiers.

Chris Kyle grew up in rural Texas hunting and fishing. He went off to war against a much less militarily capable opponent in much different conditions than Hathcock. Upon returning home, he more or less was an instant celebrity and lived larger than life with everything from his truck to his charity work, to the book. In contrast to Hathcock's attitude, Chris Kyle was quoted in his book as saying, "...I wish I had killed more."

I don't really blame Kyle, it is just the way things are nowadays. That is modern America. And it really isn't too hard to see why we are what we are nowadays and why things are the way they are.

I've put away a good amount of beer and chow at McP's pub in Coronado. Nice place. When I was younger and stationed at Coronado, we'd pre-flight at McP's, then head to Pacific Beach for the real night life.

I read the book on Hathcock many years ago too.

He was lethal.

It's about the way I see it, too. For both men.

I wasn't insinuating anything, if I thought you were lying, I would say so. I simply asked for the source of the information. I hadn't heard any of that before.

In my defense, I didn't know I was dealing w/ a douche bag.

Of course.

Well, in my defense, intent doesn't always come across over the internet. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the douche from the bag.

Flave makes a good point. Kyle's accusation of what Ventura said would be very damaging to Ventura in the military/SEAL community. I can understand him doing whatever it takes to prove that wrong ... if it is wrong. The jury agreed with Ventura, at least. We can only speculate one way or the other.

Of course, of course.



Travis

Not just the SEAL community. Ventura went from being a pretty regular guest on Fox News type shows to being one of the most hated men on those type shows. He got the same treatment the Dixie Chicks got, only according to him, he didn't actually say it.

Think about it. Try to remember the last time you saw Ventura on television in something not related to this trial. Now, think about how much you used to see him on television.

Not just the SEALs though. He got railroaded over that. Not good for business when you're in the celebrity business.



Travis

Ventura was always over the top pro Navy Seal whenever I heard him talk about the subject as well.

back to your point about changing times in comparison of Hathcock to Kyle

just look at the progression of the sniper reputation over the wars. I know there was a mixed bag of opinion on snipers -both friend or enemy in the world wars.

Now the sniper is lauded for their expertise.

Take this for whatever it's worth...

But the presence of SF at the Superdome has been reported from day one.



Travis

that kinda goes back to my original point though ... I'm afraid winning the lawsuit isn't gonna "restore" ventura's name in the broader community. Most ppl I'm talking to think it's just mean-spirited to be suing Kyle's estate.

Yeah, I thought about that as well. It is a mixed bag. Snipers are necessary and a valuable force multiplier. We need them. On the other hand, I'm old school enough that I don't feel comfortable celebrating and honoring people, to the extent we do, who have the sole job of killing people with a high powered rifle from afar.

I just can't imagine how you cover up 30 people shot - even in the chaos of Katrina

Kyle definitely ruined Ventura. Would you like to be known as the guy who was loud mouthing about how SEALS deserved to die at the wake of a SEAL or the guy who is hated for continuing a lawsuit against a dead SEAL's estate for telling that lie about you?

I don't really see a good option there, particularly when you are in the celebrity business.

my old man , a world war II vet in the Pacific never had much positive to say about snipers. He told me a story once about them leaving a Japanese sniper who they shot out of a tree to rot on a fence and used for target practice, they so disliked him for shooting at them from a position of cover. However I doubt they showed much deference to any Japanese corpses littered around Luzon.

Is it certain Kyle was claiming that he shot people from the top of the Superdome?

And if he did say it, and more to the point, if he actually did it, don't they teach the third "S" in the SEALs? I would think that they do.

I wonder if everyone on here blasting Ventura for being heartless is going to blast the insurance company for Harper Collins when it says it isn't going to pay the judgment because Kyle's lie was an intentional act and outside of the scope of the publisher's policy?

I'm not going to venture an opinion as to what Ventura did or didn't say, or even if Kyle lied about all or part of what happened. I wasn't there, and I didn't attend the trial to hear the testimony.

But, IMO, a lot of what happened here was the result of Kyle coming out of the Navy with a business plan that depended on him becoming a celebrity and generating a lot of money.

Nothing illegal about it. He did a lot of good with it. Provided well (or was going to) for his family. And he was probably a good guy to know and spend time with. I accept that.

But when money comes raining from the sky and a man who grew up pretty much without it is surrounded by marketers and hustlers pushing that business model further and faster, all kinds of [bleep] happens. And it happens in public. And a new crowd of hustlers smell [bleep] happening in public and they want to get a piece of the business, too.

IMO, Kyle lost control of his [bleep]. He called out a man, in public, who had the means and the will to fight back. If Kyle had been a little more business savvy, he could have seen that coming.

But who knows, maybe Kyle could have saved it if he'd lived long enough to testify before the jury, and they had the opportunity to see him up close.

Oh I agree. And I'm not saying I believe the stories.

But I do know people that will lay their hand on the Bible and tell you that SF were there. And were charged with clearing that building.

Who knows?



Travis

I interpreted his story to mean he was shooting from an upper level, inside the dome. Not outside.

It appears he liked to talk more than some.



Travis

Nope! Insurance will pay $500k.

Ms. Kyle has to pay $1.5 mil out of pocket.

No it wasn't.

Bump for Bob