Pursuits

Jesse Ventura Wins His (Not So) Dumb Defamation Suit Against Dead Hero

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura during the first day of jury selection in a defamation lawsuit on July 8 in St. PaulPhotograph by Elizabeth Flores/The Star Tribune via AP Photo

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By Paul M. Barrett

July 30, 2014 at 9:50 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

I still think it’s a dumb case. Fair is fair, though, and Jesse Ventura won his defamation lawsuit against the estate of a celebrated Navy SEAL who wrote about an acrimonious barroom encounter he allegedly had eight years ago with the former pro wrestler and Minnesota governor.

On Tuesday, federal court jurors in St. Paul, Minn., awarded Ventura $1.8 million for damage to his reputation and the late author’s “unjust enrichment.” Here’s the background from my July 9 post titled “Dumb and Dumber: Lawsuits by Sleeping Yankees Fan and Jesse Ventura”: