![]() Jesse Weber, an attorney and host on the Law & Crime network who has covered the case from the Fairfax County Courthouse, found that Depp “came off very strong”. He came off as likable, as someone who was himself.” Wade found that Depp “acquitted himself much better than I might have expected, given the UK libel trial backdrop to this.” “I think he did really great as a witness,” said Ahouraian. They could not rule in either person’s favor.Īmber Heard testifies at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on (JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Johnny Depp and Amber Heard as witnessesĪll three attorneys The Independent spoke with had positive impressions of Depp as a witness. It’s possible that neither Heard nor Depp will be able to meet that burden in the end. But Ahouraian also points out that actual malice has to do with someone’s intentions, and intent is generally hard to prove in a court of law. This is why so much of the testimony has revolved around what Depp and Heard allege occurred during their marriage, she adds. “She has to show that malicious intent, which is difficult to do, but she has a greater chance of winning if she can show that the statements she made were true.” “She would have to establish that he knows those things that he put in the complaint are not true, or he doesn’t care if they’re true or not, he just wants to make her look bad,” says Mitra Ahouraian, an entertainment lawyer and the founder of Ahouraian Law in Beverly Hills, California. If Heard wants to prevail in her countersuit against Depp, she is held to the same standard of actual malice as far as the defamation claim is concerned. Her countersuit lists a count of “defamation and defamation per se” (defamation per se occurs when someone makes a statement so harmful to another person’s reputation that it can be presumed to have been defamatory) and count of violation of the Virginia computer crimes act, which proscribes “harassment by computer”. His complaint lists three counts of alleged defamation on Heard’s part and asks for $50m in damages. Heard has filed a countersuit against Depp. To Wade, Depp’s alleged drug and alcohol use (which Depp has discussed in his own testimony, alleging that Heard “grossly embellished” his substance use) could be an issue of credibility for the jury. “He has to demonstrate that Amber Heard behaved with actual malice against him, ie, that she’s lying,” says Alex Wade, a media litigation lawyer and a partner at the Wiggin law firm in the UK. They also pointed to the ultra-public nature of the trial, and the potential gap between the opinions of viewers following the proceedings online and those of jurors, who are prevented from reading up on the trial while it happens. In discussions with The Independent during the fourth week of proceedings, three attorneys highlighted the high standard Depp must reach if he hopes to win his defamation case – the same standard Heard must also meet if she wants her countersuit against Depp to be successful. ![]() Depp has alleged that Heard severed his finger that night, while she has alleged that he sexually assaulted her with a bottle then cut his finger at a different moment during which she was not awake. One incident in Australia has been a repeated point of discussion. Testimony has focused on the alleged facts of Heard and Depp’s marriage, with Depp and Heard sharing their respective sides. ![]() Her testimony is expected to pick up again when the trial, currently on a one-week hiatus, resumes on Monday (16 May). Depp and his legal team have contended that the op-ed rests “on the central premise that Ms Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false”.ĭepp has taken the witness stand in the case, as has Heard. Heard doesn’t name Depp in the piece but describes herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. The lawsuit opposing him and Heard in Fairfax, Virginia, which has unfolded over the course of the past four weeks, centres around an op-ed Heard wrote in 2018 for The Washington Post. Johnny Depp set out on a complicated legal path when he sued Amber Heard for defamation. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on (JIM LO SCALZO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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