Amber Heard‘s lawyer has spoken out in regards to the defamation lawsuit between her consumer and Johnny Depp, claiming the actor publicly “demonized” Heard, efficiently turning the courtroom into “a zoo.”
In an unique interview with NBC’s Immediately present on Thursday, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft claimed that Depp and his authorized crew had been efficiently in a position to suppress “an unlimited quantity of proof” that may have been useful to Heard within the trial.
On Wednesday, a jury in Fairfax, Va., dominated in favour of Depp, 58, deciding he had in actual fact been defamed by Heard, 36, on three counts, awarding him USD$15-million in damages. This quantity was later diminished by the decide to $10.35-million.
Heard was additionally awarded a partial win, receiving $2-million on a declare that Depp’s former lawyer and press agent defamed her when he known as her home abuse allegations in opposition to the Pirates of the Caribbean actor “an abuse hoax” designed to capitalize on the #MeToo motion.
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Depp was not current in court docket when the decision was learn by the jury. Heard appeared in court docket alongside her authorized crew.
Bredehoft informed the Immediately present the very first thing Heard stated after receiving the decision was how “sorry” she was.
“One of many first issues she stated is, ‘I’m so sorry to all these girls on the market. This can be a setback for all girls in and out of doors the courtroom.’ She feels the burden of that,” Bredehoft stated.
Bredehoft additionally highlighted that Depp had already offered this defamation trial in 2020 within the U.Okay., a case he misplaced when the London Excessive Court docket dominated that in 12 completely different situations Depp was a perpetrator of home violence in opposition to Heard.
Heard’s lawyer claimed they weren’t allowed to tell the Virginia jury of the U.Okay. verdict.
Bredehoft stated due to the U.Okay. trial, Depp and his attorneys took another method within the U.S., deciding this time to “demonize Amber and suppress the proof.” This proof, Bredehoft stated, included medical data from Heard’s therapist that allegedly detailed a sample of abuse going again to 2012, and a “vital quantity of texts” from Depp and his workers admitting abuse in opposition to Heard.
She claimed one of many texts from Depp’s assistant that she was unable to current in court docket defined that when Depp discovered he had “kicked” Heard, he cried and was apologetic.
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“A variety of issues had been allowed on this court docket that ought to not have been allowed, and it triggered the jury to be confused,” Bredehoft added.
She confirmed that Heard can be interesting the decision from this trial, including that she “has some glorious grounds for it.” She stated Heard is “completely not” in a position to pay the $10-million judgment.
She additionally spoke in regards to the affect of social media on the trial, as the vast majority of discourse on-line was vehemently in opposition to Heard.
Because the seven-member jury on this trial was not sequestered, Bredehoft appeared assured they will need to have seen conversations in regards to the trial on-line and probably even had some of their real-life relationships.
“There’s no approach they couldn’t have been influenced by it, and it was horrible. It actually, actually was lopsided,” she stated of the general public’s response.
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Bredehoft concluded by saying this trial sends a “horrible message” to home abuse survivors within the U.S.
“Until you pull out your cellphone and also you video your partner or your vital different beating you, successfully, you received’t be believed,” she stated.
The lawsuit put ahead by Depp revolved round a December 2018 op-ed Heard wrote in The Washington Submit describing herself as “a public determine representing home abuse.”
His attorneys say Depp’s life and profession had been devastated by the article, which didn’t say his title.
Depp sued Heard for $50-million, whereas she filed a counterclaim for $100-million.
Of their verdict, the Fairfax County Circuit Court docket jury sided with Depp, believing he didn’t abuse Heard. The choice additionally signifies that Heard defamed Depp within the op-ed “with malice,” or figuring out intent of a false declare.
Within the closing statements from Depp’s authorized crew, considered one of his attorneys, Camille Vasquez, informed the jury that Heard had “falsely informed the world she was a sufferer of home violence by the hands of Mr. Depp.”
“What’s at stake on this trial is a person’s good title,” Vasquez stated, including Depp’s life can be at stake within the trial.
Vasquez known as Heard “extremely aggressive, violent and merciless.” She additionally insisted Depp skilled “persistent and aggressive” abuse by the hands of his ex-wife.
Submit-verdict, Vasquez appeared exterior the courthouse to thank the jury and stated the decision confirms that “the claims in opposition to Johnny Depp are defamatory and unsupported by any proof.”
“We’re… so grateful to the jury for his or her cautious deliberation,” she informed reporters.
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