MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura wants a rehearing after a federal appeals court threw out a $1.8 million jury award to Ventura, who said he was defamed by the late author Chris Kyle in the bestselling book “American Sniper.”
Ventura’s attorney will seek a rehearing before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Last week, the appeals court rejected the jury’s 2014 award of $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for unjust enrichment against Kyle’s estate.
Kyle, a Navy SEAL and the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, claimed he punched Ventura at a California bar in 2006 after Ventura said the SEALs “deserve to lose a few” in Iraq.
Ventura, a former SEAL, testified he never made the comments and that the altercation never happened.