The lawyers of Johnny Depp appealed to jurors on Friday (27) to restore his reputation with a verdict in his favour, while his ex-wife’s lawyers, Amber Heard asked them to recognize their freedom of expression rights when deciding the actors’ defamation charges.
The 58-year-old “Pirates of the Caribbean” star sued Heard in Virginia for $50 million and argued that she defamed him when she called herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
Heard, 36, has sued for $100 million, saying Depp defamed her when her lawyer called her allegations a “hoax”.
Depp denied hitting Heard or any woman and said she was the one who turned violent in their relationship.
“Mr. Depp suffered persistent verbal, physical and emotional abuse from Ms. Heard,” said attorney Camille Vasquez in closing arguments.
She said Depp’s allegations of Heard’s abuse, including a sexual assault with a bottle of booze, were “wild, exaggerated and implausible” and ruined her reputation in Hollywood and among fans.
“We ask that you give Depp back his life by telling the world that Depp is not the abuser that Ms. Heard says it is,” Vasquez said.
Lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn, in his closing argument, reminded jurors of Depp’s explicit text messages to friends or associates.
In one, Depp called Heard a “filthy whore” and said he wanted her dead and “would fuck her burnt corpse.”
“This is a window into the heart and mind of America’s favorite pirate,” said Rottenborn. “This is the real Johnny Depp.”
At the heart of the legal case is a December 2018 op-ed by Heard in the Washington Post, in which she made the statement about domestic abuse. The article never mentioned Depp by name, but her lawyer told jurors it was clear Heard was referring to him.
Heard’s lawyers argued that she had told the truth and that her comments were covered as free speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
“Your key question to answer is, ‘Does the First Amendment give Ms. Heard the right to write the words she wrote?” Rottenborn told the jury. “You can’t simultaneously defend the First Amendment and rule in favor of Johnny Depp.”
The seven-person jury is due to begin deliberations later this Friday. If jurors do not reach their verdicts by evening, they will meet again on Tuesday (31) after the US Memorial Day holiday, Judge Penney Azcarate said.
Depp and Heard met in 2011 while filming “Diary of a Drunken Journalist” and got married in February 2015. Their divorce was finalized about two years later.
Over the course of six weeks of proceedings, jurors listened to recordings of the ex-couple’s fights and saw graphic photos of Depp’s bloodied finger.
Depp said Heard threw a bottle of vodka that cut the top of his finger during an argument in 2015. Heard denied injuring Depp’s finger and said Depp sexually assaulted her that night with a bottle of liquor.
Once among Hollywood’s biggest stars, Depp said Heard’s allegations cost him “everything”. A new “Pirates” movie has been put on hold and Depp has been replaced in the “Fantastic Beasts” movie franchise, a spin-off of “Harry Potter”.
Depp lost a libel case less than two years ago against The Sun, a British tabloid that branded him a “wife beater”. A London High Court judge ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted Heard.
Depp’s attorneys have filed the US case in Fairfax County, Virginia, because the “Washington Post” is printed there. The newspaper is not a defendant.
Source: CNN Brasil
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