Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial: What is the case actually about?

After a six-week trial, a civil jury in Virginia is deliberating defamation claims by Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard. The trial has featured lurid testimony with specific particulars concerning the film stars’ quick and unstable marriage. But what’s the case actually about? And what is going to the jury have to resolve?

Depp’s lawsuit

Depp filed a $50 million defamation swimsuit towards Amber Heard, alleging {that a} 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post broken his repute and damage his profession. In the article, Heard described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp will not be talked about by identify within the article, however his attorneys argued that it was clear she was referring to Depp, provided that she had publicly accused him of home violence throughout their 2016 divorce proceedings. Heard’s attorneys stated a lot of the article focuses on public coverage on home violence and that she had a First Amendment proper to weigh in on that topic. They additionally keep that Depp did actually abuse Heard.

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Abuse allegations

During the trial, Heard has described greater than a dozen particular cases when she says Depp abused her, together with her allegation that he sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle in an alcohol-fueled rage. Depp has denied any bodily or sexual abuse, and says Heard concocted the claims to destroy his repute. He’s additionally claimed that she bodily attacked him on a number of events.

The jury’s job

The seven-member jury should resolve if two passages and the headline of the article are defamatory. The jury verdict type offers jurors directions on the way to decide that, together with by asking them whether or not the statements have been about Depp, have been false and had a defamatory implication about him. Because Depp is a public determine, Heard can solely be discovered responsible of libel if the jury decides that she acted with “actual malice,” that means that she both knew what she wrote was false or that she acted with reckless disregard for the reality. Heard’s attorneys instructed the jury Depp’s libel declare should fail if Heard suffered even a single incident of abuse.

Heard’s lawsuit

Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim towards Depp after his former lawyer referred to as her allegations a hoax. The counterclaim has acquired much less consideration throughout the trial, however Heard’s lawyer instructed jurors it offers an avenue for the jury to compensate Heard for the abuse Depp inflicted on her by orchestrating a smear marketing campaign after they break up up.

The jury verdict type asks the jury to resolve if Depp’s former lawyer, performing as an agent for Depp, made or printed three statements that have been about Heard, have been false and have been seen by somebody apart from Heard. The jury should additionally resolve if Depp’s lawyer made the statements with precise malice.