No verdict in Depp, Heard defamation cases as jury ends day's deliberations

[June 01, 2022]  By Lisa Richwine

(Reuters) - Jurors considering the opposing lawsuits from actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard deliberated for hours on Tuesday without reaching a verdict in the multimillion-dollar defamation fight that aired unsettling details about their troubled marriage.

The seven-person jury is expected to resume their discussions on Wednesday morning in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia.

Depp, the 58-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, sued Heard for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse" in a newspaper opinion piece.

Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million, saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a "hoax."

Depp has denied hitting Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.
 

Depp and Heard met in 2011 while filming "The Rum Diary" and wed in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized about two years later.

At the center of the legal case is a December 2018 opinion piece by Heard in the Washington Post in which she made the statement about domestic abuse. The article did not mention Depp by name but his lawyer told jurors it was clear that Heard was referring to him.

During deliberations on Tuesday, the seven-person jury asked Judge Penney Azcarate whether they should consider the entire article or just the headline. The headline said Heard "spoke up against sexual violence - and faced our culture's wrath."

Azcarate said she would tell the jury that the headline was the statement they should consider to reach their verdict.

During six weeks of testimony, Heard's attorneys argued that she had told the truth and that her comments were covered as free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.

Johnny Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez departs the courthouse after a day of deliberations in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial in Fairfax Virginia, U.S., May 31, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Throughout the case, jurors listened to recordings of the couple's fights and saw graphic photos of Depp's bloody finger. He said the top of the finger was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him in 2015.

Heard denied injuring Depp's finger and said Depp sexually assaulted her that night with a liquor bottle. She said she struck him only to defend herself or her sister.

Testimony was livestreamed widely on social media, drawing large audiences to hear details about the couple's rocky relationship.

Once among Hollywood's biggest stars, Depp said Heard's allegations cost him "everything." A new "Pirates" movie was put on hold and Depp was replaced in the "Fantastic Beasts" film franchise, a "Harry Potter" spinoff.

Depp lost a libel case less than two years ago against the Sun, a British tabloid that labeled him a "wife beater." A London High Court judge ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted Heard.

Depp's lawyers filed the U.S. case in Fairfax County, Virginia, because the Washington Post is printed there. The newspaper is not a defendant.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Mark Porter and Cynthia Osterman)

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