Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp recently filed a defamation lawsuit, and Heard is requesting an appeal or the judgement to be overturned. The focus of the six-week long trial between the two actors was an opinion piece Heard had written for The Washington Post in 2016.
Something’s Off
Elaine Bredehoft, Heard’s attorney, argued in a 48-page document filed on Friday that Depp’s team “proceeded solely on a defamation by implication theory, abandoning any claims that Ms Heard’s statements were actually false.” She continued by arguing that the judgement should be overturned or a new trial ordered due to “inconsistent verdicts.”
Thinking About It
The lawsuit asserts that although the juror’s name and year of birth are listed on the court record as 1945, he “was plainly born later than 1945.” He appears to have been born in 1970, according to information that is readily available to the public. This disparity begs the question of whether Juror 15 was properly screened by the court to serve on the jury and whether he or she ever got a summons for jury duty.
The motion also argues that Depp received “indefensible” and excessive compensation. Ben Chew, the head of Depp’s legal team, responded by stating that the appeal was “what we expected.” With Amber Heard’s plan being made clear, we await what the next move of Mr. Depp would be and we all would see how this plays out.