JOHNNY DEPP AMBER HEARD. The verdict of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial was delivered this Wednesday, June 1. Amber Heard has been found guilty of defamation with malicious intent against Johnny Depp.
[Mis à jour le 1er juin 2022 à 23h17] The verdict fell in the trial Johnny Depp-Amber Heard, Wednesday 1er June. The latter was found guilty of defamation with malicious intent against Johnny Depp. She is ordered to pay $10.35 million in damages to her ex-husband. Previously, the judge awarded, in addition to the $10 million, $5 million in punitive damages, but the maximum in Virginia is $350,000.
On leaving the court in Fairfax, near Washington, Amber Heard confided her “inexpressible disappointment” and said she was “devastated by the fact that the mountain of evidence was not sufficient to face the power, the much greater influence and ascendancy of my ex-husband” on his Instagram account: “I am even more disappointed by what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It calls into question the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously,” she said. For his part, the actor of “Pirates of the Caribbean” published a message on his social networks in which he said in particular that he “feels at peace” and that the jury gave him back his life.
Camille Vasquez, Johnny Depp’s lawyer, also spoke to the media on leaving the Fairfax court: “Today’s verdict confirms what we have been saying from the start: that the charges against Johnny Depp were defamatory, supported by no evidence. We are grateful to the jury.” However, Amber Heard has not lost everything. Johnny Depp will have to pay him two million dollars, after the jury ruled that the statements of Johnny Depp’s lawyer against him were defamatory.
The seven jurors took more than 13 hours to deliberate. Indeed, they had to come to an agreement on the outcome of one of the most publicized trials of the last decade. For their own safety, given the over-mediatization of the case, the identity of the jurors will be kept secret for a year. In this case, the jury had to determine whether the accusations of domestic violence really damaged their reputation, their career and therefore their income, as Amber Heard and Johnny Depp claimed each on their side.
According to information from Deadline, the jury in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial questioned Judge Penney Azcarate before giving their verdict. They have indeed asked if they should comment on the defamatory nature of the title of the forum written by Amber Heard, or on the rest of the text of the forum. They will have to take into account the title but also two other statements present in the body of the text.
This Tuesday, May 31, 2022, Johnny Depp’s lawyers filed a motion asking to cancel the closing argument of Amber Heard’s lawyers. The defense of the actress had indeed asked the jurors to consider in their final decision what message the victory of Johnny Depp would send to all victims of domestic violence. The actor’s lawyers said this “inappropriate argument” could influence the jury’s decision. If their request is accepted, the seven jurors will have to ignore this last argument when rendering their verdict.
Why Johnny Depp and Amber Heard clashed in court?
The second trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was held in Fairfax (United States) from April 11, 2022 to June 1, 2022. The actor of “Pirates of the Caribbean” had filed a defamation complaint against his former wife after a tribune published in the Washington Post in 2018. In this text, the actress ofAquaman claimed to be a victim of domestic violence. However, she never mentioned Johnny Depp’s name in this article. Amber Heard then counter-attacked by filing a complaint in turn against her ex-husband.
Johnny Depp met Amber Heard on the set of the film Rhum Express, released in 2011. The couple married in 2015, before separating in 2016. The actress seen in Aquaman then accused her of domestic violence, which Johnny Depp denied , claiming to have received blows from his ex-wife. An agreement is finally reached and Amber Heard withdraws her complaint for domestic violence, for 7 million dollars.
A first Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial in 2020 in London
In July 2020, a defamation lawsuit pitted the actor against the Sun, which had called the actor a “violent husband”. On November 2, 2020, Johnny Depp lost his lawsuit against the Sun and appealed for judgment. After collecting testimony from the actress and relatives of both parties, Judge Nicol ruled that the words and qualifications used by the Sun in their article were “substantially true”.
Internet users have decided on the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial
The verdict of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial has now fallen. But before it was known, Internet users had clearly expressed their support for the actor, who was extremely more popular and known than his ex-wife. Conversely, Amber Heard has been regularly criticized and mocked on social networks since the start of the trial. The live broadcast of the trial and the media coverage of these legal proceedings have also not helped her to gain the support of the general public, unlike other victims who have spoken out about the violence they have suffered in recent years.