It has been a month since the US court declared its judgment approving Johnny Depp in his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard who has filed a notice of appeal against the verdict that ordained her to pay $10.35 million to him.
We believe the court made errors: Amber Heard’s team seeking appeal
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s marriage lasted from 2015 to 2017, which appeared in a highly publicized, six-week trial involving a visual statement from both clients. She was made answerable for smearing Johnny through her 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post in which she depicted herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”
According to NBC News, Depp was awarded $10 million in damages for the lost jobs and opportunities and on top of that, another $5 million in punitive damages.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict,” a representative of Heard stated as per TODAY, “While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Depp’s official team provided feedback after Heard filed the appeal.
“The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp, in multiple instances,” said a spokesperson for Depp via a statement to TODAY, “We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
According to the court documents obtained by Deadline, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate has reduced damages to the state’s legal limit of $350,000, with Depp’s total damages amounting to $10.4 million. However, one of Heard’s defamatory statements were found to be to be true and the actress was awarded $2 million in damages.
Following the trial, Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft told Savannah Guthrie while appearing on TODAY that she suspects the jury were influenced, as well as stating that Heard was “demonized,” while adding that the trial was “lopsided” due to the huge public support for depp.
“There’s no way (the jury) couldn’t have been influenced by it, and it was horrible. It really, really was lopsided,” said Bredehoftwhile adding that her client is unable to pay that much in damages to Depp.
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