Johnny Depp’s slander case against Amber Heard to be handed over to a jury

Johnny Depp’s slander case against Amber Heard to be handed over to a jury

The dynamic that could decide the fate of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s duel exploded during a final argument on Friday: Depp obtained evidence that he pleaded guilty to violence, while Herd insisted on the standards of law he claimed. . To find his favor.

During more than six weeks of trial, dozens of witnesses and expositions were shown to jurors charged with determining whether the actors had insulted each other in the press during three years of public insults. They will use the principles of defamation law to judge.

Depp’s lawyers, in their closing arguments, in line with their legal strategy, portrayed Herd as abusive in the former couple’s relationship, and Depp as a pacifist who tried to hide by arguing.

“There is a rapist in this courtroom, but this is not Mr. Depp,” said Camille Vasquez, who represents the court. pirates Actor. “There is a victim of domestic violence in this courtroom, but it is not Ms. Heard.”

Ben Rothenbourne, who is representing Herd, asked the jury to ignore what he described as a red herring in Depp’s allegations. It doesn’t matter that Herd abused him, he argued.

“If Mr. Depp beats Amber once, then he wins,” Rothenborn said. “We are not just talking about physical violence. “We are talking about emotional violence, psychological violence, financial violence, sexual violence.”

Eleven jurors, six men and three women in two shifts, considered closing arguments in Fairfax County, Virginia, based on an article by Heard published in December 2018. Washington post In which she calls herself a survivor of domestic violence. Though the caption doesn’t mention him by her name, Depp said she slandered him because the allegations in the article were consistent with the timing of the couple’s marriage. After Depp filed a $50 million lawsuit, Herd filed a $100 million lawsuit alleging that her ex-husband coordinated a campaign aimed at harassing her.

While the main issue at the trial is whether Depp insulted Herd, Herd’s column contains allegedly defamatory statements: 1. “I spoke about sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture.” 2. “Then two years ago I became a public figure representing domestic violence and felt our culture’s anger towards women speaking out.” 3. “I had the rare opportunity to see in real time how institutions protect men accused of violence.”

In closing remarks on Depp’s case, Vazquez played audio recordings in which Herd confessed to beating her ex-husband and encouraged Depp to “tell the world” and “see what the jury and judge think” of his statement. that she also insulted him. . Like the testimony of third witnesses who downplay his account of the injuries he allegedly received from Depp.

“Who is really the one alleging fraud here?” asked Vasquez. “Who wants to believe that everyone is lying, making a false statement.”

During the trial, one story in particular has come under intense scrutiny: a fight in Australia in 2015 in which Depp had a finger amputated. In Depp’s version of events, his finger was injured when Herd threw a bottle of vodka at him. Herd said Depp dug his finger into the drug and alcohol-soaked nonsense before raping her with a bottle.

Vazquez tried to undermine Herd’s account of the altercation, stressing that he took nothing away from the alleged trauma, but took the opportunity to document Depp’s handwriting on the walls of the house, which he said he did during a nervous breakdown. Furthermore, Vasquez noted that none of the witnesses who testified about the incident, including Depp’s security personnel and medical professionals, have confirmed Herd’s claim that he suffered multiple injuries as a result of the attack.

“Mr. Herd told a horror story: he was violently abused by a drug addict for three days, Mr. dep. Legs and bleeding from the vagina as a result of sexual assault. And what Ms. Herd said? She said she went upstairs, took sleeping pills and went to bed. The next morning, she picked up mirrors her husband had been painted on. No photos were taken, injury or property claimed. The damage he showed in court.”

In refusing, Rothenbourne told the jury that whether or not Herd cut off Depp’s finger was “irrelevant to their discussions here”.

“Amber could have been stabbed with an ax and that has nothing to do with insulting Mr. Depp,” Rothenborn said.

Rothenbourne devoted much of his closing remarks to clarifying the jury’s high-standard instructions to help Depp win his defamation allegations.

Herd argued that the article never referred to Depp and that he did not even write the paper. ACLU General Counsel Terence Doherty confirmed the allegation, confirming that the organization had heavily sued the column to avoid a libel suit and that Herd did not attempt to provide details of her marriage to Depp.

“Just because people can read an article and remember that Ms. Heard was once married to Johnny Depp and he accused her of violence, that doesn’t mean she planned and intended to write some defamatory influence on herself,” Rothborn said.

There was also extensive discussion as to whether Herd met the standard for republication under the defamation law.

One of the legal issues the jury will decide is whether Herd will republish the article by republishing the article. You will only be responsible if it is determined that you have downloaded or released the content sufficiently to reach a new audience. Simply linking to a hyperlink does not mean republishing.

Rothenbourne claimed that Herd did not publish the work because “the content of the article was not added” to his tweet. To be held accountable, he would have to detail the insults perpetrated by Depp, he said.

The alleged defamatory allegations that make up Herd’s retaliation allegations relate to allegations by Adam Waldmann, one of Depp’s attorneys, that he was fired following an information leak covered by a press protection order, which Heard’s allegations they were insulting. in a statement The Daily Mail “We have reached the end of Ms. Herd’s violence against Johnny Depp,” Waldmann said in a counterclaim. He further added that Herd had “warned Mr. Depp by calling the police” to indicate that the police had visited the couple’s home, after which Herd refused to charge Depp with domestic violence.

Elaine Bradhoft, who also represents Herd, referred to testimony from friends of Herd protesting Waldman’s account of the incident.

“They’re trying to suggest that he review the evidence with his friends to try to get Depp to review it,” Bradhoft said. “There can be nothing far from the truth in this matter. I didn’t want to blame the police.”

The jury will decide whether to act on behalf of Waldman Depp when he made the defamatory charges. Depp confirmed that he only saw Waldman’s comments when Herd sued him.

For either of them to win, they must prove that the other made the alleged defamatory statements with factual intent, or with knowledge that he knew the allegations were false or acted in reckless disregard for the truth.

Lawyers on both sides also discussed the broader impact of the lawsuit, launched at the height of the #MeToo movement. Depp’s side argued that Hurd, the ACLU’s ambassador for women’s rights, betrayed the cause to further her career.

“No one came out of the woodwork to say MeToo,” said Benjamin Chu, also a spokesman for Depp. “This is a unique and distinct case of MeToo when there is no single MeToo.”

Meanwhile, Herd’s side asked the jury to consider the consequences of supporting Depp in the case.

“Think of the message that Mr. Depp and his lawyers are sending to Amber and therefore to all victims of domestic violence everywhere,” Rothenbourne said. “If you hadn’t taken pictures, it wouldn’t have happened. If you take pictures, they are fake. If you don’t tell your friends, they are lying. And if you tell your friends, they’re part of the joke. If you don’t seek medical help, you won’t get hurt. If you seek medical help, you are crazy. If you strive to help your spouse, the person you love, get rid of the crushing drug and alcohol abuse that turns them into an angry, violent monster, you are a fool. And if you finally decide that enough is enough, that there was enough fear, enough pain and that you have to go and save yourself, you are gold. This is the message Md asks you to send. ”

The jury session began after the closing statements. They will resume on Tuesday if the verdict is not delivered by Friday.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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