Amber Heard appeals ruling that she defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp
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WASHINGTON• • American actress Amber Heard (left) on Thursday filed to appeal a Virginia jury's decision last month that she defamed her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp, when she claimed in a newspaper opinion piece that she was a survivor of sexual violence, according to court documents.
Heard's legal team submitted the appeal notice to the Virginia Court of Appeals, seeking to overturn the lower court's June 1 ruling.
After a six-week televised trial, a seven-person jury concluded that Heard defamed Depp, and he was awarded US$10.35 million (S$14.4 million) in damages. The jury also determined that Heard was defamed, awarding her US$2 million.
Heard's attorneys had argued that she had told the truth and that her comments were covered as free speech under the United States Constitution's First Amendment. Her team said it sought to ensure fairness and justice through the appeal.
"We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment," a spokesman told Reuters. "We are therefore appealing the verdict."
The notice also appeals a June 24 final judgment order and a July 13 order against Heard's post-trial motions.
Depp's team said it was undeterred by the appeal.
"We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand," a spokesman for the Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003 to 2017) star told Reuters in an e-mail.
The filing comes more than a week after a judge rejected Heard's request for a new trial.
In seeking the new trial, her lawyers argued that one of the jurors had served improperly.
During the trial, Depp, 59, said he never hit or sexually abused Heard and argued that she was the one who became violent during their relationship.
Heard, 36, said she had slapped Depp, but only in defence of herself or her sister.
Depp and Heard met in 2009 while filming The Rum Diary (2011) and wed in February 2015. Their divorce was finalised about two years later.
Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, faced a different outcome in Britain less than two years ago, when he sued The Sun tabloid for calling him a "wife beater".
A London High Court judge ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted the Aquaman (2018) actress.
After the US ruling last month, Heard attorney Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, in an interview on NBC's Today, accused Depp's team of suppressing evidence that was allowed in the British libel case.
REUTERS
