Johnny Depp Wins Defamation Case against Ex-Wife Amber Heard

Hollywood star Johnny Depp on Wednesday won his multimillion-dollar defamation case against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard.

After less than three days of deliberation, the seven-person jury handed down the verdict in Virginia and found that Depp had been defamed by three statements in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote about her experience with domestic abuse and described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse".

Depp was seeking $50 million in damages, but the jury has awarded him $15 million — $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

However, Judge Penney Azcarate reduced the punitive damages figure to $350,000, the maximum allowed in the state, which makes Depp’s total haul around $10.4 million.

The jury, consisted of five men and two women, also concluded that Heard was defamed by a lawyer for Depp who accused her of creating a detailed hoax surrounding the abuse allegations. She was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages to Heard, but $0 in punitive damages.

https://youtu.be/sThZ4TZ_Py4

“The jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled,” Depp, who was not in court Wednesday, said in a statement on Instagram.

“I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up,” he added.

Representatives for the actor said that he would be watching from Britain when the verdict in the civil case was readout.

“Today’s verdict confirms what we have said from the beginning — that the claims against Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by any evidence,” Camille Vasquez, one of Depp’s attorneys, told reporters.

As the verdicts were read, Heard stared down in somber and looked up only as the jurors were polled. She quickly left the courtroom after the jury departed, with her attorneys close behind. Shortly afterward, she released a statement.

“I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband,” she said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU9lXnsWcUg

Before the verdict was read out, the judge had attorneys from both sides approach to discuss the fact that the jury initially did not specify damages on their verdict form.

The jury were sent out of the courtroom to put in a figure of at least $1, the judge instructed them, which means at that point the lawyers and Heard knew who had won.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdO7k5HhpeM

The trial kicked off on April 11 in the Washington, D.C.-adjacent jurisdiction.

The case captivated viewers who watched the television coverage, including impassioned followers on social media who dissected the former couple's mannerisms and wardrobe choices.

During the trial, dozens of witnesses testified during the trial, including friends, relatives, bodyguards, Hollywood executives, agents, and entertainment industry and medical experts.

Depp and Heard days on the witness stand during the televised trial, attended by hundreds of fans of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star and accompanied by a #JusticeForJohnnyDepp campaign on social media.

Video and audio recordings of the arguments between the former couple were played for the jury, which was also shown photos of injuries allegedly suffered by Heard during their volatile relationship.

They also saw graphic photos of Depp’s bloody finger. He said the top of the finger was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him in 2015.

Heard denied it and said Depp sexually assaulted her that night with a liquor bottle. She said she struck him only to defend herself or her sister.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star has denied hitting Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.

Depp and Heard met on the set of “The Rum Diary” in 2009, married in 2015, and were embroiled in a contentious split for months.

The actress filed for porce from her ex-husband in May 2016, citing irreconcilable differences. She was later granted a temporary restraining order against her ex-husband after claiming he physically attacked her.

During six weeks of testimony, Heard’s attorneys argued that she had told the truth and that her comments were covered as free speech under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

Less than two years ago, Depp lost a libel case against the Sun, a British tabloid that labeled him a “wife-beater.” A London High Court judge ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted Heard.

Depp’s lawyers filed the U.S. case in Fairfax County, Virginia, because the Washington Post is printed there. The newspaper is not a defendant.