'Inherently inconsistent': Amber Heard files 16-POINT appeal against Johnny Depp over court verdict
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: The highly publicized defamation trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard came to an end when the jury ordered Heard to pay $10.3 million in damages to her ex-husband. Since then, Heard has tried relentlessly to ridicule the jury decision and previously announced that she will appeal this decision, and now she has. Amber Heard and her new legal team have filed a 16-point argument in her appeal against Depp over their defamation trial.
According to the documents filed on Monday, October 10, obtained by Fox News Digital, the grounds include "clear and convincing evidence" of malice and the court's failure to invalidate the damages. Referring to the damages awarded to both parties, the appeal states that it is "inherently and irreconcilably inconsistent." The appeal document further states, "The trial court erred in denying the motion to set aside the jury's verdict with regard to Mr. Depp's failure to prove that the allegedly defamatory statements in the challenged op-ed each conveyed a defamatory meaning about him by implication and that any such implication was both designed and intended by Ms. Heard." The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor sued Heard for the defamatory statements made in her 2018 Washington Post op-ed that accused him of domestic violence.
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The appeal begins with the argument that the trial should've been dismissed as is because it belonged in a more appropriate setting than Fairfax, Virginia. Some of the points in this appeal were made by Amber Heard herself in her post-trial interviews and her previous legal team as well. She previously filed a notice of appeal within the first 30 days of the June 24 judgment. Heard's spokesperson said in a statement at the time, "We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict." On the other hand, Depp's legal team claimed, "The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr. Depp in multiple instances. We remain confident in our case and that this verdict will stand."
The appeal claims that the court erred in sustaining an objection during the cross-examination of Mr Depp to a question about the truth of one of the allegedly defamatory statements on the ground that it called for a legal conclusion. Another major blow in the appeal is that Heard and her legal team blame the court for mistakenly allowing Depp to argue and suggest that damages to both parties could be awarded based on statements prior to the publication of the 2018 op-ed. The appeal further reads, "The trial court erred in denying the motion to set aside the jury's verdict with regard to Mr. Depp's failure to prove that the allegedly defamatory statements in the challenged op-ed each conveyed a defamatory meaning about him by implication and that any such implication was both designed and intended by Ms. Heard."