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A seven-person jury in Virginia additionally dominated for Heard on one counterclaim in opposition to Depp. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie star depicted the choice as a vindication, and his former spouse mentioned it was “a disappointment.”
Jurors awarded Depp $15 million in damages from Heard, which the decide diminished to $10.35 million to adjust to state limits on punitive damages. The panel ordered Depp to pay Heard $2 million in damages.
Depp, 58, had sued Heard for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she known as herself “a public determine representing home abuse” in a newspaper opinion piece.
Heard countersued for $100 million, saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer known as her accusations a “hoax.”
Depp denied hitting Heard, 36, or any lady and mentioned she was the one who turned violent of their relationship.
He informed jurors the allegations from Heard, greatest recognized for her function in “Aquaman,” had value him “all the things.” A brand new “Pirates” film was placed on maintain and Depp was changed within the “Unbelievable Beasts” movie franchise, a “Harry Potter” spinoff.
“The jury gave me my life again. I’m actually humbled,” Depp, who watched the decision from Britain, mentioned in an announcement.
“The very best is but to come back and a brand new chapter has lastly begun,” he added, ending with the Latin phrase “Veritas numquam perit. Fact by no means perishes.”
Heard, seated within the courtroom between two of her attorneys, appeared down because the verdicts have been learn.
“The frustration I really feel as we speak is past phrases,” she mentioned in an announcement. “I am heartbroken that the mountain of proof nonetheless was not sufficient to face as much as the disproportionate energy, affect and sway of my ex-husband.”
“I’m much more dissatisfied with what this verdict means for different ladies,” she added. “It’s a setback.”
Depp confronted a distinct end result in Britain lower than two years in the past, when he sued the Solar tabloid for calling him a “spouse beater.” A London Excessive Courtroom decide dominated that he had repeatedly assaulted Heard.
Jury hears about couple’s clashes
The 2 met in 2011 whereas filming “The Rum Diary” and wed in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized about two years later.
On the heart of the authorized case was a December 2018 opinion piece by Heard within the Washington Put up. The article didn’t point out Depp by identify however his lawyer informed jurors it was clear that Heard was referring to him.
The jury agreed with all of Depp’s defamation claims, which cited a passage within the article and headline that learn: “I spoke up in opposition to sexual violence – and confronted our tradition’s wrath. That has to alter.”
Jurors rejected two of Heard’s three counterclaims. They concluded she was defamed when an legal professional for Depp informed a media outlet that Heard staged property harm to indicate to police after an alleged combat.
“Amber and her buddies spilled a bit wine and roughed the place up, bought their tales straight below the route of a lawyer and publicist,” the assertion mentioned partially.
Throughout six weeks of testimony, Heard’s attorneys argued that she had informed the reality and that her feedback have been coated as free speech below the U.S. Structure’s First Modification.
Jurors listened to recordings of the couple’s fights and noticed graphic images of Depp’s bloody finger. He mentioned the highest of the finger was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him in 2015.
Heard denied injuring Depp’s finger and mentioned Depp sexually assaulted her that night time with a liquor bottle. She mentioned she struck him solely to defend herself or her sister.
Testimony was livestreamed extensively on social media, drawing giant audiences to listen to particulars in regards to the couple’s troubled relationship.
Depp’s attorneys filed the U.S. case in Fairfax County, Virginia, as a result of the Washington Put up is printed there. The newspaper was not a defendant.
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