Jury to reconvene in Ventura defamation case

Jesse Ventura
In this Oct. 7, 2011 file photo, former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, left, talks to the media in Minneapolis.
Genevieve Ross/AP, File

Jurors are due to reconvene in St. Paul to deliberate on whether a late famed military sniper defamed former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in his best-selling memoir.

The case went to the jurors midday Tuesday. They will resume deliberations Wednesday.

Ventura's attorney asked the jury to award him millions of dollars in damages for what the former Navy SEAL, pro wrestler and movie actor claims is a lie in Chris Kyle's memoir, "American Sniper."

Ventura says Kyle invented a story about punching him in a California bar in 2006 after Ventura supposedly made remarks insulting Navy SEALs.

But an attorney for Kyle's estate told jurors that Ventura failed to prove his claim that Kyle made up the story or that Ventura suffered financially because of the book.

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