Amber Heard’s lawyer stated she believes the jury in the defamation case against Heard’s ex-husband, Johnny Depp, was “confused” and that Heard plans to appeal the verdict.
On Wednesday, both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were found liable for defamation in dueling lawsuits against each other. The jury awarded Depp significantly more damages than Heard, who plans to appeal the decision. Appearing on “Today,” Heard’s attorney, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft said “an enormous amount of evidence” that would have helped Heard’s case was suppressed during the trial. “That’s because she was demonized here,” Bredehoft said of the verdict. “A number of things were allowed in this court that should not have been allowed, and it caused the jury to be confused.”
Cernovich asserted Depp’s claim that insurance firms were extorting him paid off in part, because Depp had the upper hand of wealth, power and fame.
“I think that made a huge difference in this case,” she said. “But it also said we’re not going to believe women even when they have photos.” Depp sued Heard for $50 million as he alleges that she defamed him with a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she wrote about her experience with domestic violence. The lawsuit was filed after Depp’s attorney determined that the piece cost him roles in the Fantastic Beasts franchise and The Invisible Man.
She refuted him for an additional $100 million over statements Depp’s lawyer and his friends made in which she accused him of abusing her.
A jury found that actress Amber Heard defamed Johnny Depp in an opinion piece she wrote for the Washington Post. The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million dollars in punitive damages, which are capped at $350,000 in Virginia. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages but no money in punitive damages when the jury found that she had not defamed Depp. CNN also requested an interview with an attorney for Depp but they declined.
Plans to appeal
Depp released a statement after the verdict declaring that the jury had awarded him his life back.
Depp’s statement added that he feels at peace knowing he has finally accomplished the goal of revealing the truth, regardless of the outcome. Speaking the truth was something that he owed to his children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of him.
Bredehoft told CNN that she felt the combination of cameras and the number of Depp fans at the trial for the former couple’s defamation case artificially increased the size of the courtroom into something resembling a coliseum.
Bredehoft said some of the problems in the Depp trial came from the fact that it was a high profile case with a lot of media attention. She said there were cameras in the courtroom and over 100 Depp fans there every day.
The clerk in the clerk’s managerial office indicated that Judge Bredehoft has said that while she has no doubt that the members of the jury tried to comply with the judge’s order not to communicate with his or her social media accounts during the trial, she felt it would be close to impossible for them to block the majority of locations where they were engaging in conversations about the trial.
“But reality is social media was everywhere, it was all over the TVs, radios and Internet,” Amber Bredehoft said. “It was really hard to block that out. And since it was so vitriolic to me, I think that made it a lot more difficult.”
Depp plans to portray Heard’s testimony in his appeal. Heard’s appeal will focus in part on the information Heard was not allowed to testify about during the trial that Depp’s team objected to as being hearsay.
“I don’t question the judge’s fairness,” Bredehoft said. “I think she’s a very good judge, I’ve known her for a long time. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t question rulings and I do question rulings in this case.”
