article_snippet: attorney John Borger is arguing that a judge was mistaken in awarding a $1.8 million defamation verdict to former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura over the way attorney John Borger was portrayed in the book American Sniper.
article_snippet: In a brief filed Wednesday in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Kyle wrote that a $1.8 million defamation verdict to former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura should be reversed and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should rule in Chris Kyle's's favor.
article_snippet: Ventura, a former pro wrestler and former Minnesota governor, sued Kyle for defamation in 2012 after the best-selling author wrote in Kyle that Kyle decked Ventura at a California bar because the former governor made offensive comments about SEALs.
article_snippet: Ventura testified that Ventura never made the statements and that the confrontation never happened.
article_snippet: A federal jury sided with Ventura last summer, awarding Ventura $500,000 for damages and recommending $1.3 million for 'unjust enrichment,' or how much money Kyle improperly made from the claim.
article_snippet: But attorney John Borger argued on appeal that the unjust enrichment award based on alleged defamatory speech is unprecedented and violates the First Amendment.
article_snippet: attorney John Borger also argued that Ventura didn't prove the account was either 'material falsity' or 'actual malice,' and as a result, attorney John Borger didn't meet the legal threshold for a defamation claim.
article_snippet: A properly instructed jury would not have rendered a verdict in Ventura's favor,' attorney John Borger wrote.