The verdicts were read this afternoon in the defamation trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. What it boils down to is that Depp has been awarded over $10 million and Heard has been ordered to be paid $2 million:
Following a six week-long trial, a civil jury sided with Johnny Depp on Wednesday in his $50 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. The judge read the jury’s findings on three claims made by Heard in a 2018 op-ed. As the jury’s verdict concluded, Depp proved all elements of defamation, Heard’s statements were about Depp, those statements were false and defamatory, and “clear and convincing” evidence proved Heard acted with “real and actual malice.” As a result, the jury found that Heard must pay Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages — but the judge lowered the punitive damages to just $350,000, per statute.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley spotted a third party that he counts among the losers in this case:
Depp walks away with a far greater victory in the rejection of Heard's allegations. Another loser in this case is the ACLU, which helped write the defamatory column. This will magnify criticism of the role of the ACLU.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 1, 2022
In recent months and years, the American Civil Liberties Union has been going out of its way to make its organization name as ironic as possible.
Turley continued:
…Depp was only found guilty for the statement of his agent. The jury also rejected any punitive award for that agent. With the reduction, Depp can walk with $10,3000,000. Again, the court can consider a reduction of the award under remittitur.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 1, 2022
…Even if Heard's award stands, that still means that Heard is hit with an $8,300,000. Even though the punitive award was statutorily reduced, it showed that the jury not only disbelieved Heard but sought to impose added penalties in light of her conduct.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 1, 2022
…When I teach defamation, we often discuss how much of these cases turn on credibility judgments. Here the jury clearly saw little credibility in Heard and an abundance of culpability…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 1, 2022
…We also discuss in torts how rare punitive awards are in the United States despite the public perception. Punitive damages are awarded in only around one percent of cases.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) June 1, 2022
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