Attorney says Amber Heard ‘absolutely’ plans to appeal judgment in Depp case
Amber Heard’s attorney, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, on Thursday said that the actor “absolutely” plans to appeal her case against ex-husband Johnny Depp, in which a jury awarded the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star more than $10 million for defamation.
Bredehoft, while making an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show, said that Heard “has some excellent grounds for [appeal],” as Bredehoft noted that Heard’s team had tried to get evidence from a case in the U.K. introduced in the U.S. and was denied.
In the U.K., the court had found that “Depp had committed at least 12 acts of domestic violence, including sexual violence, against Amber,” Bredehoft stated. However, according to the attorney, Heard’s team was not allowed to present that as evidence to the Fairfax, Va., jury.
Heard’s attorney also stated that there was “so much evidence that did not come in” to the trial and that they had “an enormous amount of evidence that was suppressed in this case that was in the U.K. case. In the U.K. case, when [that evidence] came in, Amber won, Mr. Depp lost.”
Bredehoft said that the lack of this evidence presented to the Virginia jury, compared to the U.K. case, created a “tale of two trials.”
The attorney also said that Heard was “demonized” on “lopsided” social media and that there is “no way” that the jury was not influenced by the social media frenzy, even if they were kept offline, because they go home to their families and that discussion of the trial was everywhere online.
Bredehoft said she was against cameras being in the courtroom because of the “sensitive nature” of the trial, and that the cameras in the courtroom “made it a zoo.”
When Guthrie asked Bredehoft if Heard was able to pay a $10.4 million judgement, of which she was served Wednesday, Bredehoft replied, “absolutely not.”
Bredehoft said the Wednesday verdict in the trial sent “a horrible message,” reiterating Heard’s prior statements that a victim has to be “perfect” to be believed and that “unless you pull out your phone and video your spouse or significant other beating you, effectively, you won’t be believed.”
Heard’s attorney also called the verdict a “significant setback” for victims of domestic violence, particularly women.
Bredehoft said that one of the first things that Heard said after hearing the sweeping verdict in Depp’s favor was that she was “so sorry to all those women out there. This is a setback for all women, in and outside the courtroom,” and that “she feels the burden of that [setback].”
–Updated at 10:08 a.m.
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