Jury reaches verdict in Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation case & More Trending News

The jury has reached a verdict in the defamation trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

The court docket in Fairfax, Virginia, issued an alert on Wednesday afternoon asserting the verdict can be learn in court docket at 3pm after roughly 12 hours of deliberation.

Mr Depp sued his ex-wife Ms Heard for $50m claiming she defamed him in an op-ed for The Washington Post the place she described herself as a sufferer of home abuse.

Ms Heard countersued her former husband for $100m claiming he launched a “smear campaign” towards her.

Over the six-week trial starting on 11 April, the court docket heard each Mr Depp and Ms Heard accuse one another of abuse and provides vastly totally different accounts of notably violent incidents throughout their relationship.

Both actors took the stand the place they gave emotional testimony over a number of days.

Dozens of witnesses additionally testified in the case together with well-known faces supermodel Kate Moss and actor Ellen Barkin, in addition to psychiatrists, cops, Hollywood brokers, mates and kinfolk.

On 27 May, jurors lastly started deliberations after listening to closing statements the place each events claimed to be the sufferer and never the abuser, accused the opposite celebration of mendacity and insisted that they only wished to get on with their lives.

Mr Depp’s legal professionals advised jurors that Ms Heard was the “abuser” and he was the “abused” throughout their tumultuous relationship.

“There is an abuser in this courtroom but it is not Mr Depp,” stated legal professional Camille Vasquez.

“And there is a victim of domestic abuse in this courtroom but it is not Ms Heard.”

Ms Vasquez stated that Mr Depp suffered “persistent verbal, physical and emotional abuse” by the hands of Ms Heard and that, after the connection ended, she continued the abuse by “falsely” accusing him of home abuse.

“What is at stake in this trial is a man’s good name. Even more than that what is at stake in this trial is a man’s life,” she stated.

“The life that he lost when he was accused of a heinous crime and the life he could live when he is finally vindicated.”

She argued that Ms Heard had “lied” all through the case, saying that she has “come too far” and now “can’t back down”.

“She’s lied too many times to too many people,” she stated.

In the closing argument for Ms Heard, legal professional Benjamin Rottenborn accused Mr Depp of finishing up a “campaign of global humiliation” towards Ms Heard that sends a “message” to survivors of home abuse all over the place that they won’t be believed.

“In trying to convince you that Mr Depp has carried his burden of proof in proving that he was never abusive to Amber on even one occasion, think about the message that Mr Depp and his attorneys are sending to Amber and by extension to every victim of domestic abuse everywhere,” he stated.

“If you didn’t take the picture it didn’t happen. If you did take pictures they’re fake… That is the message that Mr Depp is asking you to send.”

He accused Mr Depp’s group of “victim blaming” and advised jurors that Mr Depp’s case had fallen aside as a result of he has not confirmed that he by no means abused his ex-wife even “just one time”.

Here’s what it’s worthwhile to know concerning the case:

The lawsuit

Mr Depp sued his ex-wife claiming she defamed him in a December 2018 op-ed revealed in The Washington Post the place she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor isn’t named in the article, nevertheless he claims that it falsely implies that he’s a home abuser – one thing that he says is “categorically and demonstrably false”.

Mr Depp claims that the article has broken his repute and left him struggling to land roles in Hollywood.

He is suing for “not less than” $50m.

The counterclaim

Ms Heard filed a $100m counterclaim towards Mr Depp for nuisance and immunity from his allegations.

She accuses Mr Depp of orchestrating a “smear campaign” towards her and describes his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.

The counterclaim revolves round feedback made by one among Mr Depp’s attorneys Adam Waldman to the MailOnline.

Mr Waldman, who isn’t representing Mr Depp in this trial, accused Ms Heard of mendacity about her allegations of home violence, branding her accusations “fake”, a “sexual violence hoax” and an “ambush”.

He additionally leaked audio recordings to the media.

Ms Heard claims she misplaced profession alternatives due to Mr Waldman’s statements.

The op-ed

The op-ed, revealed in December 2018, was titled “I spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.

In it, Ms Heard wrote that she “felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out” after she got here ahead as a sufferer of home abuse.

“Like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age. But I kept quiet — I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim,” she wrote.

“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”

Johnny Depp’s testimony

Mr Depp’s case centres round his claims that he by no means bodily or sexually abused Ms Heard.

Instead, he claimed that Ms Heard was bodily violent in the direction of him.

Mr Depp testified throughout two days in April the place he advised the court docket that Ms Heard was the “perfect partner” in the early days of their relationship.

But the connection then deteriorated into arguments the place he stated Ms Heard “berated” him and resorted to “demeaning name calling” and an “endless parade of insults”.

Mr Depp claimed that it was Ms Heard who grew to become bodily violent throughout their fights.

In one now-infamous incident in Australia in 2015, Mr Depp misplaced the tip of his finger.

He testified that his finger was severed by Ms Heard hurling a glass bottle at him.

He advised the court docket that his fingers have been resting on the bar and the massive vodka bottle “made contact and shattered everywhere”.

“I felt no pain at first all. I felt heat and as if something was dripping down my hand,” he stated.

“I was looking directly at my bones sticking out. Blood was just pouring out.”

The court docket heard a recording of a dialog between Mr Depp and Ms Heard the place the couple have been arguing a couple of separate battle.

“You punched me in the f***ing thing,” Mr Depp stated.

“You figured it all out,” Ms Heard responded.

“I didn’t punch you by the way… I’m sorry that I didn’t hit you across the face in a proper slap. I was hitting you, I was not punching you. You’re not punched.”

Mr Depp additionally testified that, whereas he has struggled with medication and alcohol points, his ex-wife’s accounts of his substance abuse are “grossly embellished”.

“The characterisation of my substance, of my quote-unquote substance abuse that has been delivered by Ms Heard is grossly embellished, and I am sorry to say, but a lot of it is just plainly false,” he stated.

He advised the court docket that his drug and alcohol use was an “easy target” for Ms Heard.

Amber Heard’s testimony

When Ms Heard took the stand throughout 4 days, she advised the court docket about a number of alleged incidents of abuse by the hands of Mr Depp.

Ms Heard testified that Mr Depp lavished her with items in the early days however quickly started exhibiting jealous, controlling behaviour round her profession and who she frolicked with.

She advised the court docket that, firstly of the violence, Mr Depp would “throw something, smash some things” and name her names like “whore”.

Ms Heard claimed that the primary time Mr Depp hit her was when she laughed at his tattoo which reads “wino”.

“It’s seemingly so stupid, so insignificant. I will never forget it. It changed my life,” she stated.

She stated Mr Depp slapped her in the face and stated “you think it’s so funny? You think it’s funny, b****?”

On the stand, Ms Heard gave a vastly totally different account to Mr Depp of the second he misplaced the tip of his finger in the Australia in 2015.

She testified that her then-husband pinned her down on a bar and sexually assaulted her with a glass liquor bottle.

“The next thing I remember, I was bent over backwards on the bar, meaning my chest was up. I was staring at the blue light. My back is on the countertop and I thought he was punching me. I felt this pressure on my pubic bone. I thought he was punching me,” she stated.

“I could feel his arm moving and it looked like he was punching me. But I could just feel this pressure.”

Ms Heard stated she lay in worry that the glass could have been damaged within her.

“I remember not wanting to move because I didn’t know of it was broken – I didn’t know if the bottle that he had inside me was broken,” she stated.

“I couldn’t feel it. I didn’t feel pain. I didn’t feel pain. I didn’t feel anything. … I looked around and I saw so much broken glass… I just remember thinking ‘Please God, please. I hope it’s not broken.’”

Ms Heard stated the abuse she allegedly suffered by the hands of Mr Depp was inebriated and medicines, saying that they might discuss with his alter ego as a “monster”.

What occurred in deliberations?

Upon receiving the case on 27 May, the seven-person jury was tasked with reaching a verdict on each Mr Depp’s declare and Ms Heard’s counterclaim.

To begin, the jury needed to attain a verdict about whether or not or not Ms Heard did defame Mr Depp in the op-ed.

The burden of proof was on Mr Depp to show that Ms Heard’s op-ed is about Mr Depp, is defamatory and false and that the statements have been made with precise malice.

If the jury discovered that Ms Heard did defame Mr Depp, she can be ordered to pay him damages.

The jury would then decide the quantity that Ms Heard ought to pay. They may advocate the complete $50m or kind of.

The jury additionally needed to attain a verdict about whether or not or not Mr Waldman – whereas performing as an agent for Mr Depp – did defame Ms Heard in his statements to the media.

The burden of proof was on Ms Heard to show that Mr Waldman’s feedback have been about Ms Heard, have been false and that the statements have been made with precise malice.

If the jury dominated in Ms Heard’s favour, they might then decide the quantity that she ought to be paid in damages by Mr Depp. Again, this may very well be kind of than the $100m she sought.

Beyond the courtroom

Outside of the courtroom, there was an enormous on-line obsession with the case with weird conspiracies claiming Ms Heard snorted cocaine on the stand, to fandom round Mr Depp’s legal professional Camille Vasquez, to viral movies of moments in the courtroom.

“Social media has weaponised this trial,” Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR agency and creator of guide Crisis Averted, advised The Independent.

“More people are drawing conclusions about guilt or innocence based on online curated content than they are the facts in the courtroom.”

Social media customers have been vastly skewed in Mr Depp’s favour.

On TikTook, the hashtag #johnnydeppisinnocent had 4.9 billion makes use of by Wednesday, whereas #justiceforjohnnydepp had 15.7 billion makes use of.

Similar hashtags in assist of Ms Heard had solely a fraction of the use, with justiceforamberheard racking up 52.1 million makes use of whereas #amberheardisinnocent had simply 4.1 million. #Amberturd in the meantime had three billion makes use of.

Fans of Mr Depp have additionally been lining the streets exterior the courthouse in assist of the Pirates star to catch a glimpse of him coming into the courthouse and to attempt to get one of many restricted areas in the general public gallery every morning.

Speaking in the road for a gallery seat on Thursday morning, Yvonne Deboer advised The Independent that she had taken a yr off work to come back to Virginia from her house in Los Angeles in the course of the trial and had camped out each evening to get a seat contained in the courtroom.

“I love him dearly. I believe him and I’m here just for him, to support him,” she stated of Mr Depp.

While Mr Depp was cheered as he drove previous the gang, Ms Heard was met by boos and jeers.

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