Amber Heard used to be “demonised” by means of ex-husband Johnny Depp’s criminal crew and excoriated on social media right through a sensational defamation trial that ended with a jury ordering her to pay Depp $15 million, Heard’s legal professional stated Thursday.
Elaine Bredehoft, one in every of Heard’s lead lawyers right through the trial, stated she believes the jury used to be influenced by means of a continuing barrage of social media posts condemning her and supporting Depp. She stated Heard plans to enchantment.
“Those folks had been giving her demise threats. They threatened to microwave her child. That is the type of social media she used to be getting,” Bredehoft stated on CBS Mornings.
“It used to be like a Roman coliseum is one of the best ways to explain the ambience right here. And I’ve to imagine that the jury, even if they’re informed to not cross and take a look at anything else, you recognize, they’ve weekends, they’ve households, they’ve social media,” she stated.
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Bredehoft additionally stated some proof that used to be allowed in a identical defamation lawsuit that Depp misplaced in the United Kingdom used to be suppressed within the lawsuit he filed in Virginia. In the United Kingdom case, the pass judgement on discovered that Depp assaulted Heard on a dozen events.
“We weren’t allowed to inform the jury this,” Bredehoft stated on NBC’s Lately display. “So what did Depp’s crew be informed from this? Demonize Amber. And suppress the proof.”
The decision passed down Wednesday in Fairfax County Circuit Court docket discovered that Depp have been defamed by means of 3 statements in a 2018 op-ed written by means of Heard wherein she stated she used to be an abuse sufferer. The jury awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, however the pass judgement on decreased the punitive damages award to $350,000 beneath a state cap.
Depp legal professional Camille Vasquez stated Wednesday that the decision “confirms what now we have stated from the start, that the claims in opposition to Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by means of any proof.”
When requested on Lately whether or not Heard has the cash to pay the $10.35 million, Bredehoft stated, “Oh, no, completely now not.”
The jury additionally awarded Heard $2 million in her countersuit, concluding that she used to be defamed by means of a legal professional for Depp who accused her of making an in depth hoax surrounding the abuse allegations.
The case captivated audience who watched gavel-to-gavel tv protection, together with impassioned fans on social media who dissected the actors’ mannerisms, their cloth wardrobe possible choices and their use of alcohol and medication.
Whilst the case used to be ostensibly about libel, many of the testimony excited by whether or not Heard have been bodily and sexually abused, as she claimed. Heard enumerated greater than a dozen alleged attacks, together with a struggle in Australia — the place Depp used to be taking pictures a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel — wherein Depp misplaced the end of his heart finger and Heard stated she used to be sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.
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Depp stated he by no means hit Heard and that she used to be the abuser, although Heard’s lawyers highlighted years-old textual content messages Depp despatched apologizing to Heard for his conduct in addition to profane texts he despatched to a pal wherein Depp stated he sought after to kill Heard and defile her useless frame.
Each performers emerge with unclear possibilities. Depp, a three-time perfect actor Oscar nominee, used to be a bankable celebrity till contemporary years, with credit together with taking part in Capt. Jack Sparrow within the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. On the other hand, he misplaced that function and used to be changed in a Implausible Beasts by-product.
Heard’s performing profession has been extra modest, and her most effective two upcoming roles are in a small movie and the approaching Aquaman sequel due out subsequent 12 months.
Brett Ward, a circle of relatives regulation legal professional in New York, stated Depp made himself a extra plausible witness by means of admitting to drug and alcohol use and that he generally is a tricky individual. However he stated Depp additionally ran the danger of constructing the ones moments extra memorable to the general public than his movie paintings.
“He says he did this for his youngsters. Having watched the entire trial, I don’t suppose that he did any carrier to his youngsters by means of airing all of this grimy laundry,” Ward stated.