Amber Heard is bidding to overturn the verdict of her US legal battle with Johnny Depp after a jury found she had libeled her ex-husband in an article on domestic abuse.
The Aquaman actress, 36, currently owes Depp more than $8 million in damages after she was found liable for three claims of defamation at the end of a blockbuster two-month trial.
Her legal team has now filed a 43-page motion with the court in Virginia, arguing the verdict was flawed and questioning the validity of the jury which heard the case.
Heard’s team argued Depp had “proceeded solely on a defamation by implication theory, abandoning any claims that Ms Heard’s statements were actually false”.
The case centred on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed by Heard, in which she described herself as a victim of domestic and sexual abuse without specifically naming Depp.
Her lawyers suggested Depp, 59, was awarded excessive damages after failing in the trial to limit his arguments about the extent of the alleged damage to his career.
“Mr Depp continued to urge the jury to restore his reputation and legacy to his children as a result of Ms Heard accusing Mr Depp in May 2016 of domestic violence,” they said.
And in a challenge to the validity of the trial itself, Heard’s team highlighted a discrepancy in the date of birth of Juror 15.
“He was clearly born later than 1945. Publicly available information demonstrates that he appears to have been born in 1970,” the court filing states.
“This discrepancy raises the question whether Juror 15 actually received a summons for jury duty and was properly vetted by the court to serve on the jury.”
In response to the bid for the verdict to be quashed and the case retried, Depp’s lawyer Ben Chew said the filing was “what we expected, just longer, no more substantive”.
In the jury’s verdict, Heard was ordered to pay $10.35 million in damages to Depp, while the Pirates of the Caribbean actor was also found to have libelled his ex-wife and must pay her $2 million.
Heard is reportedly unable to pay the $8.35 million balance in damages, but must post $10.35 million as a bond with the court while the appeal is pending.
