Amber Heard has filed an appeal asking for a reversal of the decision or an entirely new trial in the defamation case against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, who filed his own formal appeal for some of the verdict less than a month ago.
Depp sued Heard $50 million for a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she wrote about domestic violence. She did not name Depp, but he claimed it was implied that he was her abuser. Heard countersued Depp for $100 million, accusing him of orchestrating a "smear campaign" against her.
In June the jury determined that Heard defamed Depp on all three counts. Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages while Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.
Heard's lawyers are now taking trial court Judge Penney Azcarate to task.
"The trial court erroneously refused to dismiss this action on the ground of forum non conveniens, based on its mistaken conclusion that Depp’s claims arose in Virginia because the Washington Post’s servers are located here," said Jay Ward Brown and David L. Axelrod in the appeal filed last month, according to Deadline.
"The trial court also erred in overruling Heard’s demurrer, in which she argued that the challenged statements are non-actionable expressions of opinion and are not reasonably capable of conveying the alleged defamatory implication,” they added, the outlet noted.
"That holding, if allowed to stand, undoubtedly will have a chilling effect on other women who wish to speak about abuse involving powerful men," the lawyers continued, via Deadline, further lambasting Judge Azcarate for "excluding highly probative evidence and by admitting irrelevant and prejudicial evidence."
In Depp's appeal, his legal team claim that the singular count of defamation against Heard of which he was convicted was "erroneous," according to Daily Mail.
"The jury’s emphatic favorable verdict on all three defamatory statements alleged in his complaint fully vindicated Mr. Depp and restored his reputation," his attorneys wrote in the filing.
Heard's filing notes that the "resulting jury verdict against Heard on all of Depp’s claims cannot be reconciled with the jury verdict against Depp on Heard’s counterclaim," Deadline reported.
"To find in favor of Depp, the jury must have concluded that Depp did not abuse Heard and that Heard knowingly lied in accusing him of abuse," the legal document continues, according to Deadline. "But, to find in favor of Heard, the jury must have concluded that Heard told the truth about being a victim of domestic abuse by Depp. Accordingly, the verdict against Heard cannot stand."
A group of judges will rule on both appeal requests and based on that, either Depp or Heard can then take the matter to the state's Supreme Court.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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