Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Heard acted with actual malice? Yes.
You’re hearing part of the jury’s decision this afternoon in Johnny Depp’s libel lawsuit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Today, a jury ruled in favor of Johnny Depp. He sued her for $50 million in damages over an essay she wrote in The Washington Post alleging she was the victim of domestic abuse. Amber Heard countersued for 100 million. Today, the jury awarded Depp 15 million and Heard 2 million. A judge later reduced his award, making his total damages $10.4 million dollars. NBC 10 legal analyst Enrique L1 Latoison is joining us live to break down this verdict. Enrique, thanks for being with us. Was the jury’s decision a complete rejection of Amber Heard’s story and complaint?
Well, I would say so. Part of the jury instruction was at any point, if they found that Ms. Heard was a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence, then they were defined in her favor. So they found against her for all her defamation claims against Mr. Dapp, what they did was they said it was malicious. They said that the way she did these things, that she was lying, she was not telling the truth, which means after five days of testimony, they basically did not believe anything she said. And that is an oversounding win for Mr. Depp and his legal team in this case.
Amber Heard released a statement on the verdict which reads in part, it is a setback. It says the clock up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously. Enrique, do you view this verdict as a setback, as she’s saying?
Well, Jacqueline, I mean, these cases are meant to be a one-off on what takes place in this particular case. This jury sat there for many weeks and what they did was they rejected her testimony. They said that she was lying. They have very specific instructions. I do not believe this has something to do with all claims. Domestic violence from women and men on both sides. This is a reference to Amber Heard. Her testimony was deemed to be incredible. Her testimony was deemed to be lies. And they said that she defamed him and that he was the victim here. So I don’t think that this should be looked upon, as women of domestic violence or men of domestic violence should take something from this other than these are two high profile stars. And in this particular case, they sided with him. They said that she was lying and they found in his favor and that’s all this should be. It’s just this case.
All right. We know this trial turned into a spectacle. We will continue to watch what happens with Johnny Depp’s career. Of course, Enrique L1 Latoison, thank you for your time and your insight.
Thank you.
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