The legal struggle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is nearing its conclusion. Let’s see who won Johnny Deep and Amber Heard trial.
When did the trial get started?
It all started on April 11, when both Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard gave a devastating account of their rocky relationship. Both actors accused each other of abusing each other physically.
The case was referred to a seven-member jury after the closing arguments were delivered on May 27. The jury’s first full day of deliberation was Tuesday, May 31.
What will happen next?
Before making a decision, the jury is deliberating. If the jury decides that Ms. Heard did indeed defame Mr. Depp, she will be ordered to pay $50 million to the actor. Even if Mr. Depp doesn’t get the whole sum, his legal team will be pleased with the result.
If the jury rules in Ms. Heard’s favor, Mr. Depp will be required to pay her $100 million. Depending on the jury’s judgment, the amount could be changed.
When can we expect the verdict?
All eyes are on the decision in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard case after a six-week trial. However, it is impossible to predict how long the jury will deliberate.
Meanwhile, Mr. Depp is in the United Kingdom, where he played at a rock event. According to the BBC, the jury must reach a unanimous consensus before issuing a verdict, which might happen at any time.
Updates
Johnny Depp faced a high standard in his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard as a public figure. He was found not guilty by seven jurors who agreed unanimously. Depp claimed that his ex-wife defamed him in a 2018 newspaper op-ed in which she alluded to Depp’s abuse allegations. His name was never spoken of.
Depp was found guilty on all three charges by a Virginia civil jury on Wednesday, finding that Heard not only uttered false and defamatory claims but also did so with “actual malice,” a tougher standard for cases involving public personalities. The jury decided that Depp deserved more than $10 million. However, Depp’s win was not complete. Part of Heard’s counterclaim was also found to be valid by the jury.
They dismissed two of Heard’s three accusations, but decided that a Depp lawyer had defamed her by accusing her of roughing up their flat to make it appear worse for cops. She was granted $2 million by the jury. Take a look at the counts that jurors considered.
FIRST COUNT VS. HEARD
Jurors assessed whether the online headline of Depp’s op-ed in The Washington Post defamed him: “I spoke out against sexual violence and was met with the wrath of our culture. This must change.”
Lawyers for Heard said she didn’t compose the headline. Jurors determined, however, that Heard “created or published” it and that it was defamatory.
HEARD FOR THE SECOND TIME
“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic violence, and I felt the full power of our culture’s hatred for women who speak up,” the third paragraph of the op-ed read.
Given that Heard publicly accused Depp of domestic abuse in 2016, Depp’s attorneys contended it plainly referred to him.
Heard’s lawyers argued that a mound of evidence revealed Heard had been mistreated multiple times, and that only one instance of verified abuse would render the line non-defamatory. They also contended that the remark was objectively true because it focused on Heard’s experience speaking out rather than Depp.
Jurors were split on whether or not the statement was defamatory.
HEARD FOR THE THIRD TIME
“I had the uncommon vantage position of observing, in real-time, how institutions shield men accused of abuse,” Heard wrote in a second section of the op-ed.
It certainly referred to Depp, according to Depp’s counsel.
And, as with the other two counts, the jury determined that Heard defamed Depp with “actual malice” – that is, there was clear and persuasive evidence that Heard either knew it was untrue or behaved with reckless disregard for the truth.
FIRST COUNT VS. DEPP
Heard filed three counts of defamation against Depp, alleging that his former attorney Adam Waldman had repeatedly defamed her by calling Heard’s abuse allegations a fake. Heard claimed that the remarks had harmed her career.
Jurors considered Waldman’s remark, which was published on The Daily Mail’s website on April 8, 2020: “Depending on their requirements, Amber Heard and her media allies deploy false sexual-violence charges as both a sword and a shield. They’ve chosen some of her sexual-violence fabrication ‘facts’ to use as the sword, inflicting them on the general public as well as Mr. Depp.”
The jury decided that Heard’s lawyers had failed to prove all of the elements of slander.
THE SECOND LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST DEPP
Heard won her single case against Waldman, who made a statement to The Daily Mail. Following a 2016 fight in the couple’s Hollywood penthouse, which forced Heard to contact the cops, he accused Heard and her pals of faking abuse charges.
The statement reads as follows: “Simply put, this was a set-up, a ruse. They tried to frame Mr. Depp by phoning the cops, but the initial attempt failed. Officers arrived at the penthouses, conducted a thorough check and interview, and then left after observing no damage to the face or property. So Amber and her buddies poured some wine and roughed up the house, got their stories straightened out with the help of a lawyer and PR, and then dialed 911 again.”
Though she appeared in public with a mark on her face a few days later seeking a temporary restraining order, two police testified that they saw no signs Heard was wounded.
Waldman’s statement was false and defamatory, and he behaved with actual malice, jurors agreed with Heard’s counsel.
AGAINST DEPP, THE THIRD COUNT
“We have reached the beginning of the end of Ms. Heard’s abuse hoax against Johnny Depp,” a statement from the same article said in the final count against Waldman.
Jurors found that Heard’s lawyers had failed to show that the statement was defamatory.
who won Johnny Deep and Amber Heard trial?
The legal case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is nearing its conclusion, with the jury in Fairfax, Virginia, deliberating before revealing their decision.
Mr. Depp has filed a $50 million lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard for an op-ed she penned in The Washington Post in 2018 in which she described herself as a victim of domestic abuse. She did not name Mr. Depp, but his team said that the charges caused the actor to lose a lot of work.
Ms. Heard countersued Mr. Depp for $100 million, alleging that he was behind a “smear campaign” against her. On Friday, we saw the lawyers for both parties make their closing arguments, pleading with the jury to find in favour of their clients.
The judge then sent the jurors away to deliberate, but this was quickly interrupted by a three-day recess for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, with them returning to continue tomorrow, Tuesday, May 31. It’s unclear how long this process will take; it could be a few hours or it could take until later in the week to reach a decision.
What if Johnny Depp loses his case against Amber Heard?
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million in lost earnings as a result of an article his ex-wife wrote for The Washington Post in 2018. She described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse,” and Depp’s legal team claims that the actor has lost a substantial amount of money as a result of the implication that he was the abuser.
If the jury rejects his civil claim, he will not receive the large sum of money, and Heard will not be ordered to pay his, presumably substantial, legal fees. It is also possible that the jury will decide that Depp is entitled to compensation for lost income, but that the $50 million figure is excessive. In this case, he may be awarded a smaller sum.
Elon Musk makes a tweet about Depp and Heard
If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that Elon Musk has been a part of this discussion, and over the weekend he took to Twitter (his favorite platform) to wish his ex-partner and her former husband a happy future.
“I hope they are both able to move on. They are each incredible at their best “On Saturday, he tweeted.
I hope they both move on. At their best, they are each incredible.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 28, 2022
This was in response to the following tweet: “My takeaways from the trial of Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard: 1. Fame is a powerful drug. 2. Psychiatrists and lawyers have widely disparate levels of expertise. 3. Humans are capable of lying to millions of people. 4. Love can be messy. 5. A massive pint of wine.”
KEEP READING,
How did Craig Farrell die? What happened? Cause of Death Revealed
How did Bhim Singh die? What happened? Cause of Death Revealed
Follow us on Twitter to get instant notifications and news.
News content writer.