Amber Heard is certainly no quitter, that’s for sure. The “Aquaman” actress has reportedly filed to appeal the verdict in her recent libel case against ex-husband Johnny Depp, just a week after a judge had rejected her other legal motion to request for a new trial due to alleged “improper jury service.”
Amber was ordered to pay $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages last month after losing her libel case. But seeing that the trial took place in Virginia state, the second hefty sum in damages was capped at $350,000. Amber’s attorneys have since turned their attention to appealing the jury’s decision, and are convinced that there were notable mistakes made during the six-week trial, which heavily influenced the outcome after both parties had testified.
A rep for the Texas native told Metro, “We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Johnny’s team of lawyers have reacted to the court filing saying that they firmly believe the verdict will and continues to stand. “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,” a spokesperson for the Pirates of the Caribbean star said.
It was just last week when a judge dismissed Amber’s request for a second trial because the wrong juror allegedly sat on the jury throughout the six weeks of the trial. Judge Penny Azcarete responded to the legal filing, saying the juror issue was more or less irrelevant, and that Amber couldn’t actually prove she had been prejudiced.
“The juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated, and reached a verdict,” Judge Azcarate explained. “The only evidence before this court is that this juror and all jurors followed their oaths, the court’s instructions, and orders. This court is bound by the competent decision of the jury.”
Meanwhile, one of Robert’s old Hollywood friends, fellow actor Mickey Rourke, recently spoke out about his thoughts on the case that captivated millions on YouTube and on social media. Last week, the film star branded Amber a “gold-digger” who he believes had a huge impact on Johnny’s movie career, which seemed to be what he was most distraught about.
“All I could say is I was in a situation one time where I got blamed for something that I didn’t do,” he shared during his interview with “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
“It cost me movie jobs for several years and it caused a bad reputation. And finally, the truth came out but the truth came out after I lost movies and I lost jobs and so I felt bad for somebody that is trying to get chopped down by some gold digger, you know.”