Amber Heard officially files her appeal; Depp’s team believes the ‘verdict will stand’
Amber Heard has made her appeal official against the defamation trial verdict that favored her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
On Thursday, Heard’s legal representatives filed the “Aquaman” actor’s request to challenge the outcome of the highly publicized six-week defamation trial against Depp in documents obtained by The Times. The official filing comes less than a month after both parties’ legal representatives convened at a Fairfax, Va., courtroom with Judge Penney Azcarate.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the 1st Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice,” a spokesperson for Heard told The Times.
A research firm Amber Heard previously hired says her recent treatment on Twitter was ‘one of the worst cases of platform manipulation and flagrant abuse.’
For the appeal to move forward, Heard will have to pay an $8.35-million bond and 6% yearly interest, according to Deadline. However, Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft previously said that the actor cannot afford the judgment.
The dueling defamation cases between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard came to a simple end: She defamed him, but she won $2 million in her countersuit.
“The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp, in multiple instances,” a spokesperson for Depp said. “We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
The contentious trial concluded on June 1 with Depp winning an award of $15 million in damages, which was later reduced to slightly more than $10 million. Heard won $2 million in damages.
Amber Heard’s lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the $10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Heard requested a mistrial earlier in July arguing that the outcome was not supported by the evidence and that one of the jurors was incorrectly seated. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor’s legal team dismissed the mistrial request as “frivolous” and last Wednesday, a judge rejected Heard’s request.
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