Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Amber Heard is seeking a new defamation trial against her ex-husband Johnny Deppalleging that the court battle he lost a few months ago was orchestrated to “destroy”.
The ‘Aquaman’ actress, 36, filed an appeal earlier this month, arguing that the exclusion of therapeutic notes in which she reported being abused, resulted in an unfair trial. The evidence had been dismissed as hearsay by Fairfax County, Virginia Judge Penney Azcarate.
“The trial court improperly prevented the jury from considering several separate cases in which Heard reported Depp’s abuse to a medical professional.Heard’s new lawyers wrote in a 68-page document, dated November 23, released by outlets such as Deadline.
“If not reversed, the trial court’s exclusion of contemporaneous reports of domestic abuse to medical professionals will make it more difficult for other abuse victims to prove abuse allegations and likely discourage them from coming forward,” the lawyers added. .
Johnny Depp, 59, received a verdict in his favor of $10.35 million dollars in June after arguing that Heard’s Washington Post opinion piece alleging domestic abuse was defamatory. The actress’s lawyers argued that the trial should have taken place in California, where the couple once lived together, and not in Virginia, where the Washington Post has its offices.
“Virginia was a ‘completely inconvenient forum with no connection to Depp or his claims’they state in court documents.
“The case should never have gone to trial because another court had already concluded that Depp abused Heard on multiple occasions,” Heard’s defense added, referring to the 2020 UK ruling in favor of British outlet The Sun, which Depp had sued for calling him a “wife beater”.
The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star has already filed his own appeal in the case, claiming that the only defamation charge Heard won at trial was “erroneous”.
“The jury’s emphatically favorable verdict on the three defamatory statements alleged in his complaint fully vindicated Mr. Depp and restored his reputation,” the actor’s document says.
According to the Daily Mail, a panel of judges will rule on both claims, with each party having the opportunity to appeal once more.
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