The lingering drama between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife, Amber Heard is far from coming to an end as the former has filed a notice of appeal for the $2 million awarded to the latter. This is coming one day after the actress had filed her own appeal against her ex-husband.
According to reports, Depp’s filing stated that he is appealing “all adverse rulings and from the final judgement order.”
A close source told newsmen that “This was an overwhelmingly positive verdict for Mr Depp”.
“The verdict speaks for itself, and Mr Depp believes that this is a time for both parties to move on with their lives and heal. But if Ms Heard is determined to pursue further litigation by appealing the verdict, Mr Depp is filing a concurrent appeal to ensure that the full record and all relevant legal issues be considered by the Court of Appeal.”
Depp’s move came after Heard officially filed an appeal in the case.
Meanwhile, Heard’s appeal came nearly two months after a jury largely sided with Depp in the matter, ordering the “Aquaman” actress to pay Depp more than $10 million in damages.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Heard said “We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First 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.”
Reacting to Heard’s appeal filing, a spokesperson for Depp said “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. We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
It should be noted that Heard’s appeal came a week after Judge Penney Azcarate, the judge who presided over the six-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, rejected Heard’s request for a new trial.
Recall that Heard’s attorneys had filed a motion saying that one of the jurors chosen for the trial was not the same person who received the jury summons. It was reported that the person on the summons, who listed his birth year as 1945, shares the same last name and address as the juror who served and who listed his birth year as 1970.
However, Depp’s legal team had dismissed the claims as “frivolous.”
Recall that the drama started when Depp sued Heard for defamation in March 2019 after Heard penned a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence. While the article didn’t mention Depp by name, his lawyers said the article defamed him by referring to allegations of abuse as she filed for divorce in 2016 after nearly two years of marriage.
It could also be recalled that the jury unanimously found Heard guilty on three defamation claims and ordered her to pay Depp $10.35 million in damages. On the other hand, Depp was found guilty of one defamation claim and ordered to pay Heard $2 million in compensatory damages.
Reportedly, the jury concluded, “they were both abusive to each other” but Heard’s team failed to prove Depp’s abuse was physical.
In an exclusive interview, one of the jurors told newsmen that “They had their husband-wife arguments. They were both yelling at each other”
“I don’t think that makes either of them right or wrong. That’s what you do when you get into an argument, I guess. But to rise to the level of what she was claiming, there wasn’t enough or any evidence that really supported what she was saying.”
“We didn’t take into account anything outside [the courtroom]. We only looked at the evidence”
“They were very serious accusations and a lot of money involved. So we weren’t taking it lightly.”
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