In the defamation case she lost earlier this year against her ex-husband Johnny Depp, Amber Heard has appealed the verdict or requested a fresh trial to the Virginia courts.
Heard, 36, filed her appeal last month and claimed that the trial was unjust as a result of the removal of portions of her treatment notes in which she detailed being assaulted by Depp. Judge Penney Azcarate of Virginia rejected the notes.
After his legal team successfully argued that Heard’s op-ed in the Washington Post, in which she accused her ex-husband of domestic abuse, was defamatory, Depp, 56, was granted $10.35 million in a verdict in June.
Heard did not specifically mention Depp by name in the article, but given their status and notoriety, it was clear who she was alluding to when speaking about her history of alleged abuse.
Now, in a 68-page document dated to late November, Heard’s attorneys write that the court “improperly prevented the jury from considering several instances in which Heard reported Depp’s abuse to a medical professional.
“If not reversed, the trial court’s exclusion of contemporaneous reports of domestic abuse to medical professionals will make it more difficult for other abuse victims to prove allegations of abuse, and likely deter them from coming forward,” they continued.
READ ALSO: Round 16 World Cup Results for December 4
“That holding, if allowed to stand, undoubtedly will have a chilling effect on other women who wish to speak about abuse involving powerful men.
“This case also should never have gone to trial because another court had already concluded that Depp abused Heard on multiple occasions,” wrote Heard’s lawyers, referring to the United Kingdom High Court of Justice’s ruling in a separate defamation suit brought by Depp that the Pirates of the Caribbean actor had abused his ex-wife.
Her legal team, which consists of a different group of attorneys from those who defended her during the trial, also claimed that California, where the once-married couple shared a home, should have been the proper venue for the trial, which was held in Fairfax, Virginia.
Virginia, where The Washington Post houses its servers, was an “entirely inconvenient forum with no connection to Depp or any meaningful connection to his claims,” reads the filing.
Depp’s legal team has also appealed the case, arguing that the conviction of Heard on a single count of defamation was “erroneous.”
His attorneys wrote in their filing, “The jury’s emphatic favourable verdict on all three defamatory statements alleged in his complaint fully vindicated Mr Depp and restored his reputation.”
A panel of judges will make a decision about each appeal request. Depp or Heard can then appeal the case to the state’s Supreme Court, depending on whose legal team was disappointed by that decision.
Get Faster News Update On: WhatsApp and Telegram
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without written permission from CONVERSEER. Read our Terms Of Use.
