Experts Say Free Speech at Stake in 'American Sniper' Appeal

MINNEAPOLIS — Legal experts say important free speech issues will be at stake when an appeals court considers whether former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is entitled to the $1.8 million judgment he won against the estate of "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle.

Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, appealed after a jury and judge sided with Ventura in the defamation case last year. The Kyle estate is asking the appeals court to throw out the verdict or at least order a new trial on First Amendment and other grounds. Leading First Amendment scholars and media organizations have filed briefs backing the Kyle estate. Ventura says the judge and jury got it right.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case Tuesday.

THE DISPUTE AND THE TRIAL

"American Sniper" was Chris Kyle's best-selling book, later made into a hit movie, about his life as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, with 160 confirmed kills. In a subchapter called "Punching Out Scruff Face," the Navy SEAL claimed to have decked a man, whom he later identified as Ventura, during a fallen SEAL's wake at a California bar in 2006. He wrote that "Scruff Face" had made offensive comments about the elite force, including a remark that the SEALs "deserve to lose a few" in Iraq.

Ventura, a former SEAL and ex-pro wrestler, testified that Kyle's story ruined his reputation in the SEAL community. Ventura said he never made the statements and that the altercation never happened. Kyle insisted in sworn testimony videotaped before his death in 2013 that his account was accurate. His estate's lawyers presented several witnesses who backed up at least parts of his story. The jury believed Ventura and awarded him $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million from the book's profits for unjust enrichment.

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