close
Thursday March 28, 2024

Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard: Jury to resume deliberations today

Johnny Depp has denied hitting Amber Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.

By Web Desk
June 01, 2022
Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard: Jury to resume deliberations today
Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard: Jury to resume deliberations today

Jurors in Virginia will resume deliberations on Wednesday in the multimillion-dollar defamation claims brought by actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the Hollywood stars who have accused each other of abuse before and during their two-year marriage.

The seven-person jury weighed the evidence for about seven hours on Tuesday without reaching a verdict.

Depp, the 58-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, sued Heard for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself "a public figure representing domestic abuse" in a newspaper opinion piece.

Heard, 36, countersued for $100 million, saying Depp smeared her when his lawyer called her accusations a "hoax."

Depp has denied hitting Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.

Depp and Heard met in 2011 while filming "The Rum Diary" and wed in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized about two years later.

During deliberations on Tuesday, jurors asked Judge Penney Azcarate if they should consider the entire article or just the headline. The headline said Heard "spoke up against sexual violence - and faced our culture's wrath."

Azcarate said she would tell the jury that the headline was the statement they should consider to reach their verdict.

During six weeks of testimony, Heard's attorneys argued that she had told the truth and that her comments were covered as free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. (Reuters)