Johnny Depp-Amber Heard’s defamation trial jury has ruled in favor of Johnny Depp, finding that a Washington Post editorial he wrote defamed her ex-husband.
On Wednesday, the jury’s unanimous decision closed a seven-week trial in a Virginia courtroom that featured dozens of witnesses and experts who decided whether Depp abused Heard, or vice versa, during his 15-year marriage. months.
Heard won in a count of her counterclaim, in which she demanded $ 100 million and argued that she was defamed by a Depp press officer who described her accusations as “a deception of abuse” with the goal of capitalizing on the #MeToo movement.
Depp was not present for the verdict and watched it from the UK. Heard went to the courtroom while the verdict was read.
The jury began deliberations last Friday afternoon.
The case was based on a December 2018 opinion piece that Heard wrote in the Post, describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Heard did not name Depp to the piece. The 58-year-old actor sued anyway, demanding $ 50 million.
In the final arguments, Heard’s lawyers said the panel’s decision against her would mean they were telling victims of abuse, “If you didn’t take pictures, it didn’t happen. If you didn’t seek medical attention, you didn’t be injured “.
Attorney Benjamin Rottenborn said Heard deserved to win the case if the jury believed that “she was abused by Mr. Depp even once … and we’re not just talking about physical, psychological abuse … sexual abuse “.
Depp’s lawyers tried to convince jurors that Heard lied about the abuse, citing records in which the actor admits to beating Depp and calling him “a baby.”
Depp’s recordings admitting to beating Heard were not presented as evidence at trial because “it didn’t happen,” Depp’s attorney, Camille Vasquez, said.