The drawn-out Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial will carry on for at least another day after jurors failed to reach a verdict, only pausing their deliberations Tuesday to ask the judge a question about Heard’s Washington Post op-ed.
The jury deliberated for about eight hours Tuesday and will resume their discussions Wednesday morning.
Judge Penney Azcarate said the jurors asked whether they should consider the headline or the content of the article when answering one section of their jury instructions.
The title of that the December 2018 piece was, “I Spoke Up Against Sexual Violence — And Faced Our Culture’s Wrath. That Has To Change.”
“The title is the statement in question,” Azcarate said.
Tuesday marked the second day of deliberations, which began Friday afternoon following the closing arguments.
Outside the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Virginia, a truck decorated as a pirate ship with a photo of Depp on it was towed past, as fans of the ex-Hollywood couple waited for a verdict.
The truck featured an image of Depp dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
Depp, 58, is suing his ex-wife Heard, 36, over the op-ed, in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Depp isn’t named in the piece but had previously been accused of domestic violence by Heard, which he denies.
The judge also said Tuesday that she wouldn’t entertain a motion presented by Depp’s legal team because the case was already with the jury.
The deliberations follow a six-week trial in which Depp denied abusing Heard and accused her of being violent toward him. Heard denied abusing Depp while accusing him of domestic violence and substance issues.
The actors married in 2015, and Heard filed for divorce the following year.
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