(CNN) –– The jury that will decide on Johnny Depp’s civil lawsuit once morest his ex-wife Amber Heard has reached a verdict, spokesmen for both sides confirmed to CNN. The decision comes following six weeks of the defamation trial. The verdict is expected to be read at 3 pm local time. The jurors have been deliberating for regarding 14 hours.
A source close to Johnny Depp confirmed to CNN that the actor will not be in court to hear the verdict due to “previously scheduled work commitments.”
“Due to pre-scheduled work commitments made prior to the trial, Mr Depp will not be physically present for today’s verdict at 3pm and will be watching from the UK,” the source said.
The seven jurors in the case began their deliberations last Friday followingnoon, but hours later they left for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. They resumed their discussions on Monday.
Before deliberations began, Judge Penny Azcarate told jurors that the verdict should be unanimous.
The trial garnered public and news attention, amid mutual accusations of violence between Depp and Heard. the jurors listened to more than 100 hours of testimonies, including the long statements of the actors, who accused each other of verbal and physical abuse. The evidence also included text messages and recordings of conversations.
What does the jury rule on?
Amber Heard during her testimony on May 5.
In December 2018, Heard wrote an op-ed for the daily The Washington Post titled “I spoke out once morest sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture. that has to change“, in which she wrote: “I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s anger at women speaking out.”
Depp sued her for $50 million claiming that, although the actor is not named, “the op-ed was clearly (and was consistently characterized as such by other media outlets) regarding the alleged victimization of Mrs. Heard following she publicly accused to her ex-husband, Johnny Depp for domestic abuse in 2016, when she appeared in court with an apparently battered face and obtained a temporary restraining order once morest Mr Depp on May 27, 2016.”
And he claims Heard’s accusations caused him financial losses, including being cut from future “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies following being the face of the franchise for 15 years.
What were Depp and Heard trying to prove?
Johnny Depp testifies in his libel trial once morest Amber Heard on Wednesday.
The final arguments of the actors’ legal teams show what they wanted to prove. On Heard’s side, that there was indeed abuse by Depp; and on Depp’s side, that the fact that Heard presented herself as a figure representing domestic abuse is defamatory and that she was the abuser.
The actress’s lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, said Depp simply can’t prove to them that he never abused Amber.”
“A ruling once morest Amber here sends the message that no matter what you do as a victim of abuse, you always have to do more. No matter what you document, you always have to document more. No matter who you tell, you always have to tell to more people. No matter how honest you are regarding your own imperfections and your own shortcomings in a relationship, you have to be perfect for people to believe you. Don’t send that message.”
The message from Camille Vasquez, Depp’s popular lawyer, was through another channel.
“What Ms. Heard testified in this courtroom is the story of too many women,” said attorney Camille Vasquez. “But the overwhelming evidence and the weight of that evidence shows that it is not his story. It is not Ms. Heard’s story. It was an act of profound cruelty, not only to Mr. Depp, but to the actual survivors of domestic abuse. For Ms. Heard to present herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse. It is untrue, defamatory and caused irreparable harm.”
There are two antecedents to take into account in the analysis of the scenarios.
