Social media attacks on Amber Heard may have influenced jury in libel trial, her lawyer says
Amber Heard was “demonized” by ex-husband Johnny Depp’s authorized group and excoriated on social media throughout a sensational defamation trial that ended with a jury ordering her to pay Depp $15 million US, Heard’s lawyer mentioned Thursday.
Elaine Bredehoft, certainly one of Heard’s lead attorneys through the trial, mentioned she believes the jury was influenced by a relentless barrage of social media posts condemning Heard and supporting Depp. She mentioned Heard plans to enchantment.
“These folks had been giving her loss of life threats,” Bredehoft mentioned on CBS Mornings. “They threatened to microwave her child. That is the type of social media she was getting.
“It was like a Roman coliseum is one of the simplest ways to explain the ambiance right here. And I’ve to imagine that the jury, regardless that they’re advised to not go and take a look at something, you understand, they’ve weekends, they’ve households, they’ve social media.”
Bredehoft additionally mentioned some proof that was allowed in an analogous defamation lawsuit that Depp misplaced within the U.Ok. was suppressed within the lawsuit he filed in Virginia. Within the U.Ok. case, the choose discovered that Depp assaulted Heard on a dozen events.
“We weren’t allowed to inform the jury this,” Bredehoft mentioned on NBC’s As we speak present. “So what did Depp’s group study from this? Demonize Amber. And suppress the proof.”
Heard does not have $10M she owes: lawyer
The decision handed down Wednesday in Fairfax County Circuit Court docket discovered that Depp had been defamed by three statements in a 2018 op-ed written by Heard through which she mentioned she was sufferer of abuse.
The jury awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, however the choose decreased the punitive damages award to $350,000 underneath a state cap.
Depp legal professional Camille Vasquez mentioned Wednesday that the decision “confirms what we now have mentioned from the start, that the claims towards Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by any proof.”
When requested on As we speak whether or not Heard has the cash to pay the $10.35 million, Bredehoft mentioned, “Oh, no, completely not.”
The jury additionally awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit, concluding that she was defamed by a lawyer for Depp who accused her of making an in depth hoax surrounding the abuse allegations.
Focus was on abuse
The case captivated viewers who watched gavel-to-gavel tv protection, together with impassioned followers on social media who dissected the actors’ mannerisms, their wardrobe decisions and their use of alcohol and medicines.
Whereas the case was ostensibly about libel, many of the testimony centered on whether or not Heard had been bodily and sexually abused, as she claimed.
Heard enumerated greater than a dozen alleged assaults, together with a battle in Australia — the place Depp was capturing a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel — through which Depp misplaced the tip of his center finger and Heard mentioned she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.
Depp mentioned he by no means hit Heard and that she was the abuser, although Heard’s attorneys highlighted years-old textual content messages Depp despatched apologizing to Heard for his behaviour in addition to profane texts he despatched to a pal through which Depp mentioned he needed to kill Heard and defile her lifeless physique.
Affect on careers unsure
Each performers emerge with unclear prospects. Depp, a three-time finest actor Oscar nominee, was a bankable star till current years, with credit together with enjoying Capt. Jack Sparrow within the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Nonetheless, he misplaced that function and was changed in a Improbable Beasts spinoff.
Heard’s appearing profession has been extra modest, and her solely two upcoming roles are in a small movie and the Aquaman sequel due out subsequent yr.
Brett Ward, a household regulation legal professional in New York, mentioned Depp made himself a extra plausible witness by admitting he used medicine and alcohol and might be a troublesome particular person. However, he mentioned, Depp additionally ran the chance of creating these moments extra memorable to the general public than his movie work.
“He says he did this for his kids. Having watched the entire trial, I do not suppose that he did any service to his kids by airing all of this soiled laundry,” Ward mentioned.
WATCH | Carefully watched libel trial concludes with win for Depp:
A jury has dominated that Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, actor Amber Heard, had been each defamed over claims of abuse earlier than and through their transient marriage.
Help is offered for anybody who has been sexually assaulted. You may entry disaster traces and native help companies by this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. In the event you’re in rapid hazard or concern on your security or that of others round you, please name 911.
