The legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard continues adding chapters to its history
Nearly two months after a Virginia jury found in favor of Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp in his multimillion-dollar libel suit against his ex-wife and star of Aquaman, Amber Heard, now the story adds a new chapter. As reported by Deadline, the actress officially informed the court that she plans to appeal the verdict.
“Please note that Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff Amber Laura Heard, pursuant to Rule 5:9 of the Virginia Supreme Court Rules, hereby gives notice of her appeal to the Virginia Court of Appeals from the This Court’s June 24, 2022 Final Judgment Order, the July 13, 2022 Order on Defendant’s Post-Trial Motions and Plaintiff Amber Laura Beard’s Counterclaim (“Post-Trial Motions Order”), and all additional orders and rulings of the Trial Court prior to issuance of the Final Judgment Order and Post-Trial Motions Order.”said the three-page presentation Thursday at Old Dominion (you can read the full document at this link).
At the moment, Amber Heard has not yet posted the $8.3 million bail required by Virginia law in order for her to file an appeal, Judge Penny Azcarate briefly informed the actress’s legal team on June 24. While that fee will have to be paid later, to begin the appeal process today, the Aquaman actress had to contribute $500.
Amber Heard’s team referred to the reasons that have prompted the appeal
Shortly after the document from Heard’s lead attorney, Eliane Bredehoft, was filed in court today, the star’s public relations team released a supplemental statement referring to statements made on July 10 in which they sought to testify. The trial was nullified and repeated, something that was not admitted by the court, a maneuver that Brown Rudnick’s lawyers representing Depp described as “unfounded” and “frivolous”.
“We believe that the court made errors that prevented a fair and equitable verdict in accordance with the First Amendment,” a Heard spokesman said. “Therefore, we are appealing the verdict. While we realize that today’s presentation will light Twitter fires, there are steps we must take to ensure fairness and justice.”
In the rules of the public relations game that have been played almost from the moment Depp sued Heard for $50 million in March 2019 over a late 2018 Washington Post op-ed by his ex-wife, the Representatives for actor Edward Scissorheands had their own statement.
“The jury heard extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and reached a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp, in multiple instances.”said a spokesman for Depp this morning. “We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand.a”.
So this chapter of the legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard cannot yet be closed. Who will win?