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Amber Heard’s legal team has filed an official appeal with the Fairfax County, Virginia, court system in response to the jury’s verdict against the actress in the Johnny Depp defamation trial.
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On June 1, the jury in the case returned its verdict, finding that both Depp and Heard defamed one another. However, the jury found that Depp proved all three of his claims against Heard, awarding him $15 million in compensatory and punitive damages. According to the jury, Heard proved only one of her claims against Depp, awarding her only $2 million in compensatory damages and zero punitive damages.
Heard immediately released a statement following the jury’s verdict, saying she was “disappointed” and “heartbroken” at the jury’s verdict.
Credit: Law & Crime TV
Heard further said in the statement, “I’m sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly.”
Immediately following the reading of the verdict, correspondents with Law & Crime TV and other court tv outlets began to speculate that Amber Heard would appeal the jury’s decision, thus elongating an already very lengthy court battle between the now-divorced couple.
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The day after the jury announced its verdict, Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bederhoft, was interviewed by Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s Today Show. During the interview, she accused Johnny Depp’s legal team of “demonizing” Amber Heard. She also said Heard planned to appeal the verdict.
Judge Penney Azcarate told the court she would not record the jury’s verdict until June 24, allowing the legal teams for both Depp and Heard to have time to come to a settlement if they so chose. But on June 24, when no settlement had been reached, Judge Azcarate recorded the verdict, thus beginning a 30-day window during which Heard’s team could appeal the verdict.
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According to PEOPLE, the Aquaman actress has done exactly that. On Thursday morning, attorneys for Amber Heard filed an appeal in Fairfax County.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict,” a spokesperson for Heard said in a statement. “While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
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Shortly before Heard’s attorneys filed the appeal, they petitioned Judge Azcarate to declare a mistrial in the case, which she denied.
