Amber Heard appeals $10 million Johnny Depp defamation verdict

Amber Heard has appealed to the Virginia courts asking for a reversal of the decision or an all-new trial in the massive defamation case against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, which she lost earlier this year.

Heard, 36, filed an appeal last month, arguing that the exclusion of some of her therapy notes, in which she alleged abuse by Depp, resulted in an unfair trial. The notes were ruled out by Virginia Judge Penney Azcarate.

In June, Depp, 56, was awarded $10.35 million in a judgment after his legal team successfully argued that Heard’s Washington Post op, in which she accused her ex-husband of domestic violence, was defamatory.

Heard didn’t publicly mention Depp in the piece, but given their stature and notoriety, it was obvious who she was referring to in regards to her history of alleged abuse.

Depp and Heard were married for just 15 tumultuous months before calling it quits in 2016. The internal drama of their Hollywood affair was on full display during a week-long trial in June

Depp’s legal team has also appealed the $2 million he was ordered to pay to his ex-wife for the single libel suit he was found guilty of

Now, in one document of 68 pages in late November, Heard’s attorneys write that the court “erroneously prevented the jury from considering several cases in which Heard reported Depp’s abuse to a medical professional.”

“If not reversed, the court’s exclusion of simultaneous reports of domestic violence to medical professionals will make it more difficult for other abuse victims to prove abuse allegations, and likely deter them from coming forward,” they continued. they.

“Holding that, if it stands, will no doubt have a chilling effect on other women who want to speak out about abuse involving powerful men.”

“This case should also never have gone to trial because another court had already concluded that Depp had abused Heard on multiple occasions,” Heard’s lawyers wrote, referring to the UK Supreme Court’s ruling in a separate libel suit. filed by Depp that the Caribbean actor’s Pirates had abused his ex-wife.

Her legal team, which consists of a different set of attorneys than those who represented her at trial, also argued that the trial, which took place in Fairfax, Virginia, should have taken place in California, where the once-married couple lived together.

Virginia, which houses The Washington Post’s servers, was an “utterly awkward forum with no connection to Depp or any meaningful connection to his claims,” ​​the filing reads.

Depp’s legal team also appealed the case, claiming that the single count of libel against Heard for which he was convicted was “false.”

His attorneys wrote in their file, “The jury’s emphatically favorable verdict on all three defamatory statements alleged in his complaint has completely vindicated Mr. Depp and restored his reputation.”

Both appeals are reviewed by a group of judges.