Johnny Depp has filed a notice of appeal to the Virginia Court of Appeals, one day after his former partner Amber Heard filed her own against the outcome of the multimillion-dollar defamation case.
Documents filed on Friday in Fairfax County read: “Plaintiff and counterclaim-defendant John C Depp, II, by counsel, hereby appeals to the Court of Appeals of Virginia from all adverse rulings and from the final judgment order of this Circuit Court entered on June 24, 2022.”
“This was an overwhelmingly positive verdict for Mr Depp,” a source close to his camp told Deadline.
“The verdict speaks for itself, and Mr Depp believes that this is a time for both parties to move on with their lives and heal,” the source added. “But if Ms Heard is determined to pursue further litigation by appealing the verdict, Mr Depp is filing a concurrent appeal to ensure that the full record and all relevant legal issues are considered by the Court of Appeal.”
On Thursday Ms Heard’s legal team submitted a notice that claimed errors made during the trial had prevented a “just and fair verdict” from being returned. The actress’ filings come shortly after Judge Penney Azcarate, who oversaw the six-week trial at Fairfax County District Court, dismissed her legal team’s claims of improper juror service.
“We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment,” a spokesperson for the actress said, following the filing’s submission. “We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realise today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
Mr Depp sued his former partner over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser.
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