The actress has requested a new trial after Johnny Depp’s win in their court battle, citing several “unfair” factors.
Amber Heard is requesting another defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, arguing that she did not receive a fair hearing the first time around. The 36-year-old actress, most well-known for her performance in Aquaman, recently filed court documents as part of the appeals process from the five-week trial that occurred back in May. She is requesting either a reversal of the previously declared verdict or an entirely new trial.
She argued that the therapy notes in which she reported being abused should not have been excluded from the trial. Still, Fairfax County, Virginia Judge Penney Azcarate ruled them out as hearsay.
According to reports, Heard’s lawyers wrote in the 68-page document dated November 23 that the trial court did not allow the jury to deliberate on several occasions when Heard reported Depp’s abuse. If this decision is not reversed, it will be harder for other abuse victims to prove their allegations and likely discourage them from coming forward at all, they argued.
Depp, aged 59, sued Heard for $50 million ($A73 million) and won his case on June 1. He argued that Heard’s Washington Post op-ed- which made claims of domestic abuse against Depp- was defamatory. As a result, he was awarded $US10.35 million ($A15 million). Although Depp won the majority of the case, Heard was awarded $US2 million on one count from her countersue against Depp.
Furthermore, Heard’s lawyers contended that the trial ought to be in California–where the couple used to reside together–instead of Virginia, where The Washington Post’s servers are located. The filing states that Virginia courts are entirely inconvenient and have no connection to Depp or any meaningful connection to his claims.
Her lawyers argued that the case should never have gone to trial because Depp had already been ruled against in a 2020 UK court case, where he sued Britain’s The Sun in 2020 for referring to him as a wife-beater.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star has already appealed the case to a higher court, claiming that the one count of defamation that Heard won at trial was based on false information.
The filing said that the jury’s favorable verdict on all three of the defamatory statements in his complaint fully vindicated Mr. Depp and restored his reputation.