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Depp's lawyers urge judge to leave jury verdict intact

Depp-Heard Trial
Posted at 7:14 PM, Jul 11, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-11 19:14:07-04

Lawyers for Johnny Depp are urging a Virginia judge to leave his $10 million defamation judgment intact after attorneys for his ex-wife, Amber Heard, asked the judge to set aside the verdict.

In court papers filed on Monday, Depp's lawyers dispute arguments from Heard's team that the jury's verdict was nonsensical and unfounded. They also say the Heard team's complaints about an apparent case of mistaken identity with one of the jurors are irrelevant. Last month, a civil jury in Fairfax awarded $10.35 million to Depp after finding he was defamed by Heard when she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence.

The jury also awarded $2 million to Heard on her counterclaim that she was defamed by one of Depp's attorneys.

On Monday, Depp’s lawyers filed their response. They argue that there was nothing inconsistent in the fact that the jury awarded judgments in favor of both Depp and Heard. They said the jury verdict form allowed jurors to be very specific about which statements were libelous and that the verdict makes sense when you look at the specific statements cited by the jury.