Anna Good
Amber Heard’s lawyer spoke with interviewers about the defamation trial and told them that Heard plans to appeal the jury’s decision.
On Wednesday, June 1, the jury decided that both Heard and Depp defamed one another, and that Depp would need to pay Heard $2 million in damages, while Heard owes Depp $10.35 million, per the state of Virginia’s limit on punitive damages to $350,000.
Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, made an appearance on NBC’s Today show on Thursday, and host Savannah Guthrie asked her if Heard was able to pay Depp the penalty. Bredehoft replied simply, “Oh no, absolutely not.”
According to The New York Times, Alafair Hall, a spokesperson for Heard, has stated that the actress plans to appeal the verdict, a statement that Bredehoft confirmed in her interview with Guthrie.
The attorney said that Heard could attempt to bring evidence that had not been admitted in the original trial.
Bredehoft told the Today host that the verdict sends “a horrible message.”
“It’s a significant setback, because that’s exactly what it means,” Bredehoft stated. “Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively, you won’t be believed.”
Not only was Heard found liable for defamation against Depp for her op-ed, but Depp was also when one of his lawyers called Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse a “hoax,” leading to them awarding Heard $2 million in damages.
Bredehoft said in the interview that the televised nature of the trial led to an explosion of one-sided coverage on social media, with people taking sides — the vast majority of which was pro-Depp — which she claims “absolutely” had an effect on the jury’s decision, even if they were told not to look at any of the reports covering the case.
“There’s no way they couldn’t have been influenced by it. And it was horrible,” Bredehoft told Guthrie. “It really, really was lopsided.”
She went on in the interview to say that Head had been “demonized” by Depp’s lawyers, and that had a major influence on the jurors as well.