Legal professionals for actor Johnny Depp on Friday filed a discover to attraction a verdict awarding ex-wife Amber Heard $2 million in compensatory damages for defamation.
The 2-paragraph discover acknowledged that “all hostile rulings” could be appealed within the judgment signed final month in Virginia by Fairfax County Chief Circuit Courtroom Choose Penney Azcarate on the finish of the celebrities’ sordid testimonies of their deeply disturbing relationship.
Attorneys for Heard mentioned quickly after the verdict was introduced that they deliberate to attraction the decision, which additionally awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. (It was decreased to a most whole of $10.3 million to evolve with a statuary cap.)
The jury returned the decision final month after it decided that Heard had defamed Depp by describing herself as a home abuse survivor in a 2018 Washington Put up opinion piece. Heard in flip was awarded the $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages on a counterclaim towards Depp when the jury dominated that certainly one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her by calling her accusations a “hoax.”
The discover of attraction by the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star stunned certainly one of Heard’s attorneys.
“I feel [Depp’s team] felt so buoyed by the judgment, they considered [Heard’s verdict] as insignificant compared to what they obtained,” mentioned Elaine Bredehoft, lead legal professional for the “Aquaman” actor, reported Courthouse Information. She mentioned she was assured concerning the power of their case on attraction.
Heard’s authorized crew already filed a movement for a mistrial earlier this month to put aside the damages for Depp. They argued that Depp’s award was unsupported by proof and claimed that not less than one juror was not correctly verified by court docket officers to find out the juror’s identification.
Azcarate rejected the claims.
Heard can nonetheless attraction the decision to the Virginia Courtroom of Appeals. The problems introduced to the appellate court docket might fluctuate from the problems Azcarate rejected.
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