The actress’s lawyers announced Thursday, July 21, their decision to appeal the verdict in the defamation lawsuit against her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
The trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard ended on June 1. Nearly a month and a half after the judgment, condemning the actress to pay 10 million damages to her ex-husband, the latter formalized her request for appeal, Thursday, July 21. Her lawyers explained that the 36-year-old actress could not afford to pay the requested sum, as reported by AFP. Faced with this new twist, the actor of Pirates of the Caribbean retorted in stride, deciding to file an appeal in turn.
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According to information from Deadline, the actor’s lawyers filed an appeal this Friday, July 22, in Fairfax County, where the trial took place. “Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant John C. Depp, II, by Counsel, hereby appeals to the Virginia Court of Appeals from all adverse judgments and from the Order of Final Judgment of this Circuit Court rendered on June 24, 2022”, can we read on the official documents reported by the site.
Later, it is by seeing a press release, always relayed by Deadline, that the actor’s lawyers justified their decision. “The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented over the six weeks of trial and returned a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp, on multiple occasions. We remain confident in our case and believe this verdict will stand,” they said. This procedure aims to thwart Amber Heard, but could also allow Johnny Depp to no longer have to pay the 2 million dollars he was ordered to pay her.
Ignite the Twittersphere
For their part, the representatives of the actressAquaman also made public statements on July 21, formalizing the reasons for their appeal. “We believe the court made errors that precluded reaching a verdict that was fair, just, and respectful of the First Amendment,” they said in a statement. And to add: “We understand that this call will ignite Twitter, but it is a necessary step to ensure that justice is done”.
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Legal battle
This legal battle between the former spouses stems from a column published by the washington post in 2018, in which Amber Heard described herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence”, without naming her ex-husband. Assuring that this text had destroyed his reputation and his career, Johnny Depp, 59, had sued his ex-wife for defamation to obtain 50 million dollars in damages. Amber Heard had counter-attacked and demanded the double.
After six weeks of trial, the jurors of the Fairfax court concluded that the ex-spouses had defamed each other, but they considered that the damages suffered by Johnny Depp were greater, condemning Amber Heard to pay him 10 million dollars against only 2 for him.
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