Amber Heard plans to ask a Virginia court to throw out a jury’s verdict against her in Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit over domestic violence allegations.
The “Aquaman” actress filed a notice to appeal Thursday, a week after a judge refused to grant her a new trial, according to online records from the Virginia Court of Appeals.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict,” a spokesperson for Heard told the Daily News in a statement.
Amber Heard waits before the verdict was read at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse. (EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/AP)
“While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Last month, the 36-year-old Heard was ordered to pay her ex-husband more than $10 million in compensatory damages after a jury decided that she defamed him when she referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in a Washington Post op-ed that did not name him.
Heard’s lawyers vowed to appeal and earlier this month requested a mistrial, claiming that one of the jurors was never actually summoned and alleging “potential improper juror service.” The filing alleged a “discrepancy” about the age of one of the jurors who was born in 1970, not 1945 as reported by the court.
In this screengrab from video, Amber Heard, center, and her lawyers Elaine Bredehoft, right, and Ben Rottenborn, left, react as the verdict is read in the courtroom in the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va. on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Actor Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in 2018 referring to herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse." (Court TV via AP)
Judge Penny Azcarate declined, saying there was “no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing.”
“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 the actor told The News Thursday. “We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.”
During the ugly six-week trial that played out live on TV and across social media, Heard alleged physical and emotional abuse by Depp, including sexually assaulting her with a glass liquor bottle, slapping her and head-butting her. Depp accused the actress of being the aggressor, including “demeaning name-calling” and throwing a bottle at him that sliced off part of his finger.
In a post-verdict interview on NBC, Heard confessed to “horrible, regrettable” behavior during her marriage but said she was only ever reacting to Depp, not initiating.
Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News
Copyright © 2021, New York Daily News