A jury on Friday voted to penalize Hustler magazine nearly $20 million for publishing nude photographs of wrestler Chris Benoit's late wife -- a verdict overturned by the presiding judge moments later.
Instead, the adult magazine will be liable for only $375,000 in compensatory and punitive damages after U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. ruled the jury could not exceed Georgia's punitive cap.
Richard Decker, hired by Nancy Benoit's family in 2008 after Hustler published the photos, said he will appeal the judge's decision. State law allows a jury to exceed the $250,000 cap if it's proven the defendant "acted ... with intent to harm."
"There was certainly enough evidence presented to the jury which showed specific intent," Decker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Last November Thrash ruled that Hustler was financially liable to the family of the late wrestler's deceased spouse. The magazine, no stranger to legal wrangling over its controversial content, argued the photographs of Nancy Benoit, killed by her husband in June 2007, were newsworthy.
Thrash was unswayed, according to a court order obtained by the AJC. In it the judge said there was "no question" the woman's family suffered damages.
"No reasonable juror could conclude that [Larry Flynt Publishing] did not publish the photographs and the article for financial gain," Thrash wrote. "The evidence shows that LFP made significant profits off the March 2008 issue and that the reaction to the Benoit photographs was ‘huge and overwhelmingly positive.' "
Decker said the $19 million-plus punitive award confirmed the jury's disgust with Hustler.
"I really didn't expect it to be that much," he said. Nancy Benoit's family would not be commenting, their attorney said.
Benoit, also known by her wrestling names "Woman" and "Fallen Angel," was an aspiring model when she posed for the nude photographs in 1983, according to the family's lawsuit.
The 43-year-old wife and mother was killed, along with her 7-year-old son, Daniel, by Chris Benoit at the family's Fayette County home. After strangling both, Benoit committed suicide.
The AJC is seeking comment on Friday's developments from Hustler representatives. Return for updates.
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