Amber Heard and Johnny Depp Legal Battle Not Over as Actress Seeks to Toss out Verdict in Defamation Trial
Amber Heard wanted to toss out the $10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
According to Associated Press, Heard's lawyers filed a post-trial motion on Friday to ask a Virginia judge to set aside the jury's decision and dismiss Depp's lawsuit or order a new trial.
In the motion, the lawyers of the "Aquaman" star slammed the June 1 award of $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages to Depp, calling it "excessive" and "indefensible," Entertainment Tonight reported.
The judge has already reduced the punitive damages to $350,000 because of limits set by state law. While the jury sided with Depp in most of his claims in the civil lawsuit, they did hand Heard one victory, which is the one based on the comments made by one of the actor's lawyers.
With Depp's lawyer referring to Heards' claims as a "hoax, the actress was awarded $2 million by the jury in compensatory damages for her counterclaim but nothing in punitive damages.
Heard's lawyers further noted that the evidence presented in the defamation case did not support the verdict and did not prove that the actress wrote the article with actual malice.
"Instead, the evidence overwhelmingly supported Ms. Heard believed she was the victim of abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp," Heard's lawyers noted.
Johnny Depp Defamation Trial: Amber Heard's Other Request in Her Motion
Amber Heard's lawyers have also raised concerns that one of the jurors was not properly vetted by the court.
They then asked the judge to probe the "potential improper juror service."
According to the actress' lawyers, one of the jurors was listed as being born in 1945 in documents given to the lawyers before the jury selection process. But in publicly available information, "Juror 15" was listed as being born in 1970.
Heard's lawyers noted in their motion that this "discrepancy raises the question whether Juror 15 actually received a summons for jury duty and was properly vetted by the Court to serve on the jury."
The motion argued that Amber Heard's due process was "compromised" due to the potential discrepancy.
"This should be taken into account and considered as grounds for a new trial to be ordered," the actress' camp noted.
Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp Defamation Trial
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have battled over a 2018 op-ed the actress wrote for the Washington Post, calling herself a domestic violence survivor.
The piece did not mention Depp by name, but the actor claimed he was booted from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise due to the "clear implication" that he was the abuser in his ex-wife's op-ed.
Depp also alleged that Amber Heard was the actual "perpetrator" of the violent encounters that damaged their relationship. He asked for $50 million in damages. The actress countersued for $100 million for nuisance.
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This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Johnny Depp Wins Defamation Lawsuit Against Amber Heard - From extratv
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