Judge Penney Azcarate made the official ruling in the defamation case between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard on Friday, June 24. The New York Post says that both sides’ lawyers were at the Fairfax County Court to finalize the details of the settlement.
Based on the verdict from the trial on June 1, the jury agreed with all three of Depp’s claims that Heard had lied about him. Because of this, the actor was given $10.35 million in punitive damages, which is less than the original $15 million because of a state law.
Heard, on the other hand, was given $2 million because the jury agreed with one of her claims.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard settlement
Amber Heard to appeal the defamation trial verdict, which favored Johnny Depp?
Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, has already explained why Heard is appealing the verdict in the couple’s defamation trial, which went in favor of Johnny Depp. Bredehoft went on The Today Show on June 2, a day after the verdict was made public. At the time, the lawyer said that they were going to appeal the decision because they had “good reasons” to do so. Bredehoft also said that the jury had been swayed by how the defamation lawsuit was talked about on social media.
While this was going on, Johnny Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, told The Today Show that the jury was told not to watch or read anything about the case outside of the courtroom. Ben Chew, Depp’s other lawyer at the time, said that Judge Azcarate had treated both sides fairly.
During the verdict, Judge Azcarate said that she would write up the decision on June 24 to give the two sides time to come to an agreement outside of court. But the two teams of lawyers said that no deal had been reached. This is surprising, because Elaine Bredehoft said on The Today Show that the actress can’t pay Johnny Depp $8.35 million (after taking out what she owes him).
The fact that there was no agreement on a settlement makes it more likely that Amber Heard will appeal the verdict of the defamation trial. Recent news reports say that Heard has 30 days to file an appeal after the judgment has been entered in the docket, which makes it official and legally binding. After that, she can go to the Virginia Court of Appeals to try to change the decision.
Is Johnny Depp the person who is suing? Amber Heard’s request to throw out the defamation suit against the actor is denied by the judge.
If Heard loses the appeal, she would have to pay Depp an extra $8.35 million to cover the fees of her lawyers during the appeal. Based on what Heard and her lawyers have said before, they plan to say during the trial that the coverage on social media had an effect on the jury. But this can be quickly ruled out as “speculative.” Depp’s lawyers can also say that the actress’s interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie and claims that Depp abused her during their relationship, despite the verdict, were defamatory.
The Aquaman star hasn’t said how she will pay her lawyers, who reportedly got $6 million. There had been rumors that the actress was broke since the trial.
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