True to form, Amber Heard's lawyers have filed a notice to toss out the verdict in Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against her. The 44-page document submitted on July 1 contends that there wasn’t enough proof to justify the 10 million awarded for damages, especially because of Depp's claim that he lost his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean 6 movie due to an op-ed that Heard wrote for The Washington Post in 2018.
In June, following a six-week trial in a Virginia court, a jury viewed Heard as vulnerable to three defamation claims arising from one media commentary. In the article, Heard pushed for regulation against sexual harassment and exploitation but didn't name Depp expressly. The jury granted Depp $10 million and $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, respectively. However, it was later diminished by Virginia law to $350,000. In a contemporary countersuit, they found Depp defamed Heard on one count because of statements given by one of his lawyers. They granted her $2 million in compensatory damages as well.
In the document filed, Bredehoft contends that Depp's lawyers distorted the extent of the case in front of the jury. Mr. Depp had set out to try this case as a domestic dispute, which he wished he had, rather than settled, in 2016.
As indicated by the filing, Depp's legal team tried to dispute Heard's abusive behavior at home. At the point when Depp and Heard settled their separation in 2016, they gave a joint statement, saying neither one of the parties had made any misleading statements for monetary profit and there was never any goal of physical, mental, or emotional damage.
Bredehoft contends that while taking every single count of defamation, Depp's side expanded the boundaries of harm and proceeded to encourage the jury to reestablish his standing and legacy to his kids because of Ms. Heard's denouncing Mr. Depp in May 2016 of abusive behavior at home. Additionally, it claims that Depp gave no proof that he lost Pirates of the Caribbean or some other movies due to Heard's 2018 statements, and calls the jury's verdict unnecessary and excessive.
They additionally claim that one member of the jury might not have been assessed by court authorities since he was born in 1970, but the summons was for a juror born in 1945.
Heard's group has requested that the court put away the verdict completely and is requesting another trial altogether.
Mr. and Mrs. Depp
Depp and Heard met on the sets of The Rum Diary and started dating by 2012, after they separated from their respective long-term partners, Vanessa Paradis and Tasya van Ree, respectively. The couple wedded in mid 2015, and despite numerous confirmations from anonymous newspaper sources that everything was "fantastic" and "they were extraordinary together," Heard sought legal separation 15 months after the marriage. Given the quickness of this marriage and the recent lamentable loss of his mom, Johnny did not answer any of the obscene bogus stories, tattle, falsehoods, or lies about his own life. His team said, "Ideally, the disintegration of this short marriage will be settled quickly."
The couple had previously endured an entire dog smuggling show by this point, and the tattle magazines immediately started speculating on potential thought processes in the separation. They drifted through familial enmity, Ben Affleck, and different life stages (when they got together, she would have been around 25 and he would have been around 48) as potential explanations behind the split, but the most genuine one arose in court filings when Heard narrated one serious occurrence in December 2015. Depp purportedly tossed an iPhone at her head during an argument, and Heard needed a restraining order against him, having previously recorded a police report. She also appeared in court with bruises and wounds. Thus began an extremely frightful, nasty, and exceptionally public separation.
Heard blamed Depp for physical and psychological exploitation over the years.
As per Heard, Depp regularly turned out to be dangerously aggressive and rough all through their relationship. Her filings outlined the iPhone episode as recurrent, claiming that Depp exposed her to "unnecessary and profound verbal and physical maltreatment" as well as "nasty, humiliating and compromising attacks." Heard said she had photographs and video to support her assertions.
TMZ eventually spilled film from Heard's Phone showing the Pirates of the Caribbean star seething and fuming at his wife.
Depp filed a slander claim in the UK — but not against Heard.
Depp sued News Group Newspapers Ltd., after one of its titles — The Sun — alluded to him as a "wife beater" in an article published in 2018. However, the judge ruled that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence did occur.
Although he was denied an appeal for the verdict, Depp had meanwhile filed a defamation suit against Heard in the U.S. over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed and Heard sued him right back.
The case was put to trial, and Heard countersued for $100 million in August 2020, saying Depp's allegations that she had been "painting on her injuries," were expected to hurt her standing and reputation.
Although the Washington Post isn't named in the claim, it is imprinted in Springfield, Virginia, which is additionally where its web-based servers reside. The trial was consequently opened on April 11 at the Fairfax County Courthouse.
Heard's legal counselor, Elaine Bredhoft, told The Today Show that Heard would be unable to pay the $8.35 million she presently owes Depp in damages and that they intend to pursue the verdict.
The new records, documented with the court on Friday, July 1, claim that the jury's verdict, including the more than $10 million granted to Depp, was not upheld by proof. In particular, the new documents stress that Depp's role in the Pirates series was not impacted by the Washington Post op-ed.
Presently, the case is on trial in Virginia, with the audience’s eyes permanently glued to the screen as they await the verdict.
In the most recent update, Heard’s insurance company refused to pay the damages, saying Depp allowed himself to be willfully defamed by his ex-wife and is hence refusing the payout.
The court has also rejected the mistrial motion put up by Heard’s team, contesting juror verification, saying there is no proof of fraud.
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