The jury sentences in its verdict that both Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamed each other

The seven members of the popular jury have ruled that the actress Amber Heard defamed her ex-husband the actor, Johnny Depp, with his article in The Washington Post in which he presented himself as a victim of abuse. Depp also slandered her, but in only one of the three statements that were judged of her. It is a great victory for the actor. Heard will have to pay him 15 million dollars and he, two million to her.

Amber Heard has been present in court, crestfallen as the court found her liable for defamation. Johnny Depp has been photographed these days singing on stage at singer Jeff Beck’s concerts in Sheffield and London, England. The sentence has not waited for him.

The actress will have to pay 15 million to the actor (10 million for compensatory damages and 5 for punitive damages) and this, 2 million to the actress, 2 for compensatory damages, and zero for punitive damages.

The verdict reading has been delayed because the jury had filled out the sentencing form incorrectly. Judge Penny Azcarate told them that if they considered that there had been defamation, they had to set the amount of compensation. That gave a clue about the ruling: there was defamation, but it was not known from whom. In the end, it was both of them.

The jury has ruled that all three of Amber Heard’s reported claims were defamation:

“I spoke out against sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture. That has to change.”

“Then, two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s anger at women speaking out.”

—”I had the rare advantage of seeing, in real-time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”

This is Depp’s statement considered defamatory:

“Simply, this was an ambush, a deception. They set up Mr. Depp by calling the police, but the first attempt was unsuccessful. Agents went to the attics, searched and interviewed them thoroughly, and left after seeing no damage to the face or property. So Amber and her friends spilled some wine and messed up the site, cleared up their stories under the direction of a lawyer and a publicist, and then made a second 911 call.” ( The Daily Mail, April 27, 2020).

The jury began its deliberations last Friday. When leaving the sessions, especially on weekends, Judge Penney Azcarate warned them that they could not talk about the case with anyone, not family and friends, nor could they follow the news, opinions, and comments that have been multiplying in the press. , radio, television, and social networks.

The trial has been extended over a month and a half of marathon sessions in the Fairfax courthouse (Virginia), the town where The Washington Post, the newspaper where the article that gave rise to the entire process, has its presses. Depp filed a lawsuit in which he asked for 50 million dollars (about 47 million euros, at current exchange rates) in compensation. For her part, Amber Heard counterattacked and filed another lawsuit in which she claimed 100 million dollars from Depp, although her lawyer has admitted that this figure was not realistic and that what they wanted was to send a message.

The trial, broadcast live by numerous media outlets in the United States, has generated great expectations. The public could go to the room where the hearings were held, but there was only a capacity of about 100 people. The queues have been increasing and in the last week of the trial, many people stayed to sleep at the door of the court to secure their place.

The sessions have exposed to the world the intimacy of a couple of Hollywood stars in a poisoned relationship. The two versions of the same story presented to the jury were opposite.

Campaign against Heard in the networks

Among the public that came outside the court, support for Johnny Depp was predominant. Some of his followers dressed up as pirates and cheered him in and out. Amber Heard has had much less support, has been booed on occasions, and has been the victim of harassment on social networks, with humiliating labels and constant negative messages, according to an expert hired by the defense of the actress herself.

“The most intimate, embarrassing, and deeply humiliating things I have ever survived being used against me every day, over and over again. It is torture. I am suffering a lot emotionally. I have a baby. I want to keep going forward. I want Johnny to move on too. I want him to leave me alone, ” said the actress at a trial session. Moving on was also what the actor’s defense demanded: “We ask you to give him his life back by telling the world that Mr. Depp was not the abuser, but Mrs. Heard was and that they hold her responsible for her lie,” he said. his attorney Camille Vasquez.

On the closing day, Johnny Depp’s lawyers asked the jury to decide on the general credibility of the actor and actress. They demanded a joint analysis, concluding that Heard was the real abuser who had “represented the role of her life” by lying about the abuse.

Heard’s lawyers, for their part, appealed to the freedom of expression enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. He argued that even if the jury found the account of sexual assault, rape and physical abuse to be untrue, psychological or financial abuse would suffice to win Heard for her right to freedom of expression.