Johnny Depp wins defamation case against Amber Heard

Actor Johnny Depp has won his defamation case against his former wife Amber Heard.

He has been awarded $15 million.

The two had been battling it out in court — each actor claiming that they were abused by the other — for more than seven weeks.

Heard was in the courtroom, while Depp didn’t appear.

A jury found that a statement that Ms Heard made about domestic abuse in a 2018 opinion piece clearly referred to the actor.

Amber Heard statement: “Verdict a setback for women”

The seven-member jury found in favour of Mr Depp after a six-week trial.

The court heard confronting testimony about the couple’s explosive marriage.

Depp accusations

Mr Depp had accused Ms Heard of several acts of violence during the trial as she also claimed of him.

A source close to Heard hit out at Depp’s absence, according to Rolling Stone. “Your presence shows where your priorities are,” the source says. “Johnny Depp plays guitar in the UK while Amber Heard waits for a verdict in Virginia. Depp is taking his snickering and lack of seriousness on tour.”

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The trial, which was overseen by Judge Penney Azcarate, began in April.

Depp testified that he never hit Heard and that she, instead, was the perpetrator of abuse in the relationship.

In his suit, Depp sought a $50 million settlement while Heard countersued for $100 million.

In the end, he walks away with $15 million.

The jury deliberation

According to the verdict form given to jurors, the jury has to consider whether the headline and passages were about Depp, if they are false, whether each of them has a “defamatory implication” and whether Heard intended for it to smear her ex-husband.

Jurors also have to weigh if Heard acted with “actual malice,” which requires “clear and convincing evidence” that she either knew what she was writing was false or that she acted with reckless disregard for the truth.