publishedJul 14, 2022 at 3:33 am
Trial of Johnny DeppHeard brushed off with a motion to overturn the verdict
The judge dismissed US actress Amber Heard’s allegations of fraud or wrongdoing in the Johnny Depp defamation trial. The claims for damages remain.
This is how Amber Heard reacted to the reading of the verdict on June 1st.
20 Minutes/Twitter/Sierra Gillespie
The US actress Amber Heard has failed after the defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp in an attempt to have the verdict overturned. Judge Penney Azcarate on Wednesday denied a request for a new trial by Heard’s attorneys despite a mix-up in one of the seven jurors.
At the trial in Fairfax, Virginia, according to Heard’s lawyers, a man sat on the jury, although his father had actually been summoned to serve on the jury. Both have the same name and live at the same address.
However, Judge Azcarate now said that the mix-up did not result in any disadvantage for Heard. “There is no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing.” Both parties to the conflict would have accepted the jury. Azcarate said that all jurors honored their oath and the court’s instructions.
Ten million damages for Depp
At the internationally acclaimed civil trial in Fairfax near the US capital Washington, the jury largely sided with Depp at the beginning of June: They sentenced Heard to pay more than ten million dollars in damages to the star of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. In return, Depp was sentenced to only two million dollars in damages to the actress known from films such as “Aquaman” and “The Danish Girl”.
Depp sued Heard, to whom he was married between 2015 and 2017, for $50 million in damages. The reason was a contribution by Heard to the Washington Post from 2018, in which the actress described herself as a victim of domestic violence.
The 36-year-old did not name her ex-husband; However, Depp argued that the allegation was clearly aimed at him and had seriously damaged his career. Heard responded with a counterclaim against the 59-year-old.
(AFP/chk)