Juliet
Johnny Depp has won his defamation case against Amber Heard and the jury awarded him $15million. $10million in compensatory damages and $5million in punitive damages.
The panel of seven in Fairfax decided to award the Pirates of the Caribbean star a total $15 million in damages after deliberating for about 13 hours.
The judge, however, reduced the $5million punitive damages he could receive to $350,000 because Virginia law caps punitive damages in these cases at $350k. Amber now owes Johnny Depp $8,350,000Depp was not in court for the ruling as he was in the UK on tour with guitar legend Jeff Beck.
However, Amber Heard was in court. Heard was awarded $2million in compensatory damages out of the $100million she was seeking in her countersuit against her ex-husband. She was awarded zero dollars in punitive damages.
Heard, 36, alleged Depp physically and sexually abused her. But Depp repeatedly denied the claims. Over the course of the six-week trial, Depp’s lawyers went to lengths to prove that Depp, not Heard, was the victim of domestic abuse in their relationship. Amber Heard said in a statement after the verdict:
“The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.” Heard called the verdict a “setback” for other women, saying: “It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously.”
She continued: “I’m sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.” The actress won her second of three counts in her $100 million counterclaim against her ex-husband, with the jury finding that Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman did defame her when he told the Daily Mail she set up Depp in a hoax when the police came to their apartment in May 2016.
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