A jury completed Tuesday’s second day without reaching a verdict in defamation cases against Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and their unhappy marriage.
The civil jury of seven members heard closing arguments Friday. They deliberated for approximately two hours before departing for the Memorial Day weekend. The jury deliberated for seven more hours on Tuesday. They will resume their deliberations Wednesday at Fairfax County Circuit Court.
Depp is suing Heard to recover $50 million. Heard claims that she libeled him in an op-ed written in 2018 calling herself “a public figure representing domestic violence.” Heard also filed a $100 million counterclaim against the star of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” after her lawyer dismissed her allegations as a hoax. Both accuse the other of ruining their careers.
The six-week trial saw a litany lurid details about their brief marriage in testimony. Heard claimed that Depp assaulted him sexually or physically more than a dozen time. Depp claimed that he had never attacked Heard and that she made the abuse allegations. He also stated that Depp was not the one who assaulted him physically multiple times.
Both sides stated that a verdict in favor of their client would bring their lives back.
Depp’s lawyers asked Judge Penney Azcarate Tuesday to direct the jury not to consider Heard’s closing argument.
Depp’s lawyers stated that Heard’s attorney told the jury in a written motion that Heard’s decision would send a message “to every victim of domestic abuse everywhere” and that Heard’s ruling against Heard “sends the message that, no matter how much you do as an abuse victim you always have more to do.”
“No matter how open you are about your shortcomings and the relationships you have with people, they must believe you.” Rottenborn advised that you don’t send such a message.
Depp’s lawyers argued that Rottenborn’s argument asked the jury to concentrate on a greater social objective than the case in which they were being asked to decide.
Depp’s lawyers claimed that Ms. Heard’s counsel incorrectly invited the jury to decide the case “based on passion and prejudice” and that a specific instruction to the jury is required to correct this error.
Depp’s lawyers were told by the judge that the motion would not be granted because the case is now in the hands the jury.
Heard’s public relations firm did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
