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Actor Johnny Depp gestures to onlookers in court after closing arguments at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on Friday, May 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, Pool)
A seven-person civil jury in Virginia will resume court proceedings. Deliberations Tuesday in Johnny Depp’s libel trial against Amber Heard. very different from the public debate that has surrounded the high-profile media proceedings.
For six weeks, the testimony focused on She went into the details of the alleged abuse Heard says she suffered at the hands of Depp.
The woman has described more than a dozen specific cases in which she says her ex-partner assaulted her.< /p>
Depp has denied any physical or sexual abuse and says Heard invented the crime. her claims to destroy her reputation.
Depp’s legions of fans online have focused on his belief that Heard has not been telling the truth and that will determine his fate. the result.
But the case itself is it is a defamation claim. Depp sued Heard for defamation, and requests $50 million dollars,in Fairfax County Circuit Court for a December 2018 opinion piece he wrote. in The Washington Post, describing himself. She calls herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
That article doesn’t even mention Depp by name, but his lawyers say that He was, however, smeared.
Most of the article discusses public policy regarding domestic violence, and Heard’s attorneys say she has a right to have an opinion according to the First Amendment.
However, in closing arguments, Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, argued Heard’s free speech rights have limits.
“The First Amendment does not protect lies that hurt and defame people,” he said.
Depp’s lawyers point to two passages in the article that they say clearly refer to Depp.
In the first passage, Heard writes that “two years ago, I was converted. I became a public figure representing domestic abuse and I felt sorry for myself. the full force of our culture’s anger.”
Depp’s lawyers call it a clear reference to Depp, given that Heard accused She publicly publicized the domestic violence actor in 2016, two years before she wrote the article.
In a second passage in the newspaper, she states: < /strong>“I had the rare benefit of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” (Depp’s lawyers are also seeking damages for a headline that appeared above the online version of the article, even though Heard did not write it.)
The jury, which has to reach a unanimous decision for a verdict, must decide whether those passages in the Post are libelous. And the verdict form gives them step-by-step instructions on how to determine that.
Heard’s attorneys say they have presented a mountain of evidence that Heard was abused. But they say that even if the jury somehow believed that she was never abused even once, they would still be wrong. should prevail in the lawsuit.
That’s because defamation law explains several factors that must be considered. First, the alleged defamatory statements have to be about the plaintiff. Heard’s lawyers said the article is not about Depp at all. It is not mentioned, and they say the focus is on Heard’s experience of the consequences of speaking out. Those statements remain factually true even if she was not abused, her lawyers maintain.
Depp’s lawyers, however, say the two passages are clear references to Depp, given the publicity surrounding & ó; their 2016 divorce proceedings.