Amber Heard appeals defamation trial against Johnny Depp: Here’s why

Reports suggest that Amber Heard’s lawyers have filed a fresh appeal in a Virginia appeals court for the defamation case against her former husband, Johnny Depp. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor won the case earlier this year and as compensatory damages, was awarded $10 million besides $5 million for punitive damages.

This news comes weeks after Depp himself had filed an appeal regarding some of the appeals of the verdict in the defamation case.

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Jay Ward Brown and David L. Axelrod, Heard’s lawyers, said in their appeal, “The trial court erroneously refused to dismiss this action on the ground of forum non conveniens, based on its mistaken conclusion that Depp’s claims arose in Virginia because the Washington Post’s servers are located here,” further adding, “The trial court also erred in overruling Heard’s demurrer, in which she argued that the challenged statements are non-actionable expressions of opinion and are not reasonably capable of conveying the alleged defamatory implication”.

The appeal also suggests that, “That holding, if allowed to stand, undoubtedly will have a chilling effect on other women who wish to speak about abuse involving powerful men.”

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Judge Azcarate has been accused of “excluding highly probative evidence and by admitting irrelevant and prejudicial evidence” in the appeal. The claims also state that the case should not have gone to trial since a British court has already ruled that Depp did inflict domestic abuse on Heard.

Depp had initially filed the case after Heard wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post where she suggested that she had been a victim of domestic abuse. Although Heard did not specifically mention Depp by his name, the implications, according to the 59-year-old actor, had “devastated” his career. 

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As things stand now, the merit of the appeals by the former couple would be considered by a group of judges before either Depp or Heard decides to take the case to the Virginia Supreme Court.