Jesse Ventura Wins Lawsuit Against Estate of Slain Navy SEAL - East Idaho News
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Jesse Ventura Wins Lawsuit Against Estate of Slain Navy SEAL

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GETTY 073014 lawsuitaward?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1406723269904iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura was awarded $1.845 million in damages after a jury determined that he was defamed in a book by the late Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.

Kyle, who was murdered in 2013, wrote in his book, American Sniper, that he once punched out a man identified as “Mr. Scruff Face” because he badmouthed the SEALs and said the elite group “deserved to lose a few” members.

During a tour to promote American Sniper in 2012, Kyle said the person he “laid out” in a bar was Ventura.

Ventura sued, claiming the incident never happened.  The former governor belonged to the Navy’s Underwater Demolition Team during the Vietnam War era, which eventually merged with the SEALs.

His award included $500,000 in defamation damages and $1.345 million for “unjust enrichment,” meaning someone, in this case Kyle, made money at the expense of Ventura.

Kyle and a friend, Chad Littlefield, 35, were shot to death Feb. 2, 2013 at the Rough Creek Lodge in Texas. Police have charged former Marine Eddie Ray Routh, who had a history of mental problems, with two counts of capital murder. Routh has pleaded not guilty.

Kyle’s book is being adapted into a movie starring Oscar winner Bradley Cooper.


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