I’m surprised, given the media accounts I read summarizing key testimony. Things did not seem to be going well for Janos (”Ventura”). Juries can be very unpredictable!
Here is hoping for a remittitur.
Even if not, though, Ventura destroyed what little was left of his rep by bringing the suit — AND then choosing to continue it after the book’s author died.
“Ain’t got time to bleed”? I ain’t got time to care about “Ventura” ever again. I thank him for his service, but that’s it.
Not sure what media you were reading, but the local press reported that the jury was shown a videotaped deposition Kyle did where he admitted that parts of his story weren’t true and that he tried to remove the story from the book after a friend told him he could be sued it was false. His publisher thought it was a great story, and Kyle agreed to keep it in.
The local media also reported that Kyle’s had plenty of witnesses but there were huge discrepancies between their stories and that in any event only one of them claimed to have seen the whole altercation and he admitted he’d had “15 to 20” drinks that night. In fact, most of Kyle’s witnesses admitted they’ve been drinking.