“A ruling against Amber here sends the message that no matter what you do, as a victim of abuse you always need to do more,” Mr Rottenborn said. “No matter what you document, you always need to document more. No matter who you tell, you always need to tell more people.
Johnny Depp’s defamation case against Amber Heard
In the courtroom. A libel lawsuit involving once-married actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is currently pending in Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia. Here’s what you need to know about the case:
The publication that is at the heart of Mr. Depp’s complaint is Ms. Heard’s editorial, which was directed and prepared by the American Civil Liberties Union. Ms Heard did not name Mr Depp in the article, but he argued it clearly alluded to their relationship, damaged his reputation and “devastated” his acting career.
The jury is also charged with determining whether Mr. Depp defamed Ms. Heard in 2020 when a lawyer representing him made statements aimed at discrediting his abuse charges, including one accusing Ms. Heard and her friends of setting up Mr. Depp when one of them called the police at the couple’s home. (Before the call, Ms. Heard said, Mr. Depp threw a phone at her at point-blank range, punching her in the face, which Mr. Depp denies.)
Ms. Heard’s lawsuit claimed that Mr. Depp, through these statements, “launched a national campaign” to discredit her. Mr. Depp testified that he had not seen the statements at issue before the lawsuit was filed.
At a previous trial in London, a judge found that Mr Depp had repeatedly assaulted Ms Heard throughout their relationship. The 2020 lawsuit in Britain revolved around a lawsuit Mr Depp brought against News Group Newspapers, the publishers of The Sun, a British tabloid, and Dan Wootton, editor of that newspaper, over a headline from 2018 that called Mr. Depp a “woman”. drummer.”
The jury’s verdict in this case must be unanimous, but the panel does not have to find the evidence convincing “beyond a reasonable doubt,” as in a criminal case. Each party bears the burden of proving by the greatest weight of evidence that it was defamed and that there was clear and convincing evidence that the other party acted with actual malice in defaming it.