FAIRFAX, Va. -
A jury sided Wednesday with Johnny Depp in his libel lawsuit towards ex-wife Amber Heard, awarding the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor greater than US$10 million and vindicating his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her earlier than and through their transient marriage.
However in a break up choice, the jury additionally discovered that Heard was defamed by one in all Depp's attorneys, who accused her of making an in depth hoax that included roughing up the couple's house to look worse for police. The jury awarded her $2 million.
The verdicts convey an finish to a televised trial that Depp had hoped would assist restore his popularity, although it become a spectacle that supplied a window right into a vicious marriage.
- Johnny Depp and Amber Heard react to trial verdicts: Learn their full statements
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Heard, who was stoic within the courtroom as the decision was learn, mentioned she was heartbroken.
"I am much more dissatisfied with what this verdict means for different ladies. It is a setback. It units again the clock to a time when a girl who spoke up and spoke out could possibly be publicly humiliated. It units again the concept violence towards ladies is to be taken significantly," she mentioned in a assertion posted on her Twitter account.
Depp, who was not in court docket Wednesday, mentioned "the jury gave me my life again. I'm actually humbled."
"I hope that my quest to have the reality be instructed may have helped others, males or ladies, who've discovered themselves in my scenario, and that these supporting them by no means hand over," he mentioned in a press release posted to Instagram.
Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Courtroom over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Put up describing herself as "a public determine representing home abuse." His attorneys mentioned he was defamed by the article despite the fact that it by no means talked about his title.
The jury present in Depp's favor on all three of his claims regarding particular statements within the 2018 piece.
All through the proceedings, followers who had been overwhelmingly on Depp's facet lined up in a single day for coveted courtroom seats. Spectators who could not get in gathered on the road to cheer Depp and jeer Heard each time they appeared exterior.
A crowd of about 200 individuals cheered when Depp's attorneys got here out after the decision. "Johnny for president!" one man yelled repeatedly.
Greg McCandless, 51, a retired non-public detective from Reston, Virginia, stood exterior the courthouse carrying a pirate hat and pink head scarf, a nod to Depp's well-known function as Capt. Jack Sparrow within the "Pirates of the Caribbean" collection.
"I do imagine that there was defamation, and I do imagine that it did damage his profession," McCandless mentioned. "I feel the jury heard the proof, and the decision was simply."
In evaluating Heard's counterclaims, jurors thought of three statements by a lawyer for Depp who known as her allegations a hoax. They discovered she was defamed by one in all them, by which the lawyer claimed that she and mates "spilled somewhat wine and roughed the place up, received their tales straight," and known as police.
Sydni Porter, 30, drove an hour from her residence in Maryland to point out help for Heard. She mentioned the decision was disappointing, however not shocking, and sends a message to ladies that "as a lot proof as you might have (of abuse), it is by no means going to be sufficient."
The jury discovered Depp ought to obtain $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, however the decide mentioned state regulation caps punitive damages at $350,000, which means Depp was awarded $10.35 million.
Whereas the case was ostensibly about libel, many of the testimony targeted on whether or not Heard had been bodily and sexually abused, as she claimed. Heard enumerated greater than a dozen alleged assaults, together with a battle in Australia -- the place Depp was taking pictures a "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel -- by which Depp misplaced the tip of his center finger and Heard mentioned she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.
Depp mentioned he by no means hit Heard and that she was the abuser, although Heard's attorneys highlighted years-old textual content messages Depp despatched apologizing to Heard for his habits in addition to profane texts he despatched to a good friend by which Depp mentioned he wished to kill Heard and defile her useless physique.
In some methods, the trial was a replay of a lawsuit Depp filed in the UK towards a British tabloid after he was described as a "spouse beater." The decide in that case dominated within the newspaper's favor after discovering that Heard was telling the reality in her descriptions of abuse.
Within the Virginia case, Depp needed to show not solely that he by no means assaulted Heard, however that Heard's article -- which targeted totally on public coverage associated to home violence -- defamed him. He additionally needed to show that Heard wrote the article with precise malice.
And to say damages, he needed to show that her article triggered the injury to his popularity versus any variety of articles earlier than and after Heard's piece that detailed the allegations towards him.
The case captivated tens of millions by its gavel-to-gavel tv protection, together with impassioned followers on social media who dissected the whole lot from the actors' mannerisms to the doable symbolism of what they had been carrying. Each performers emerge from the trial with reputations in tatters with unclear prospects for his or her careers.
Eric Rose, a disaster administration and communications professional in Los Angeles, known as the trial a "basic murder-suicide."
"From a reputation-management perspective, there could be no winners," he mentioned. "They've bloodied one another up. It turns into tougher now for studios to rent both actor since you're doubtlessly alienating a big section of your viewers who might not like the truth that you might have retained both Johnny or Amber for a particular mission as a result of emotions are so robust now."
Depp, a three-time greatest actor Oscar nominee, had till latest years been a bankable star. His flip as Sparrow helped flip the "Pirates of the Caribbean" into a world franchise, however he is misplaced that function. He was additionally changed within the third "Improbable Beasts" spin-off movie, "The Secrets and techniques of Dumbledore."
Regardless of testimony on the trial that he could possibly be violent, abusive and uncontrolled, Depp acquired a standing ovation Tuesday night time in London after performing for about 40 minutes with Jeff Beck on the Royal Albert Corridor.
Heard's performing profession has been extra modest, and her solely two upcoming roles are in a small movie and the upcoming "Aquaman" sequel due out subsequent 12 months.
Depp's attorneys fought to maintain the case in Virginia, partially as a result of state regulation offered some authorized benefits in contrast with California, the place the 2 reside. A decide dominated that Virginia was an appropriate discussion board for the case as a result of The Washington Put up's printing presses and on-line servers are within the county.
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