All you need to know about The Johnny vs. Amber Defamation Trial

They first met on the set of Rum Diary in 2009 and started dating by early 2012 and got married in 2015.

Background

Heard filed for divorce in 2016 and accused Depp of physical abuse, later the divorce settlement of $7m was reached out of court.

The Verdict of UK Court: In 2020, Depp fought against the News group of newspapers the publisher of The Sun over an article in which they called him a “wife-beater”, The High Court of London ruled against Depp.

Depp sued Heard for 50 million dollars for her article in Washington post in 2018, though he had not been named in the article but he claims it cost him acting roles

The Case

The jury of the Virginia Court returned its verdict on the defamation trial: Heard defamed Depp 3 times in her 2018 article and Depp defamed her once in his 2020 Daily mail article. Depp was awarded 15 million dollars as damages and Heard was awarded 2 million dollars as damages.

The Verdict

3 Counts which jurors considered against Heard

1. Jurors concluded that online headline of the op-ed in The Washington post was made and publish by Heard and it was defamatory 2. Jurors considered the third paragraph of the op-ed and concluded that it clearly referenced to Depp and it was defamatory  3.In the second passage Heard wrote, “I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” It was also considered to be defamatory.

Reasons for difference in the outcome of the case in UK and US

1. It is significant that US trial was heard before a jury and UK trial was heard before a judge 2. There are claims of using Dravo tactics outside the court, on the internet though jury were not advised to read the case online but they were allowed to keep their phones   3.Heard’s team also made tactical mistakes and were outdone by experienced set of lawyers 

LEGALLY FLAWLESS

Where Passion Meets The Legal World

Thank You

Checkout more Web Stories 

Web Story Credits: Ayush Singh

Arrow