Amber Heard announces that she’ll appeal verdict of defamation trial
Amber Heard is not backing down yet.
On Friday, the legal teams of Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp convened at a Fairfax, Va., courtroom with Judge Penney Azcarate. Instead of finalizing a settlement, Heard’s representatives said the actor will appeal the outcome of the six-week defamation trial.
“As stated in yesterday’s congressional hearings, you don’t ask for a pardon if you are innocent. And you don’t decline to appeal if you know you are right,” a spokesperson for Heard said.
The meeting comes just weeks after the contentious televised trial concluded on June 1. The jury awarded Depp $15 million in damages, eventually downsized to slightly more than $10 million per Virginia’s statutory limit, and $2 million to Heard.
According to Deadline, Azcarate told Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft that the actor will have to pay an $8.35-million bond and 6% yearly interest for the appeal to formally proceed. Bredehoft previously said that Heard is “absolutely not” able to afford the judgment, which casts doubt on the affordability of a possible appeal.
Neither Heard nor Depp were present for Friday’s hearing.
The biggest takeaways from Amber Heard’s interview on NBC’s “Dateline” about the trial with Johnny Depp.
Heard has continued pleading her case following the June 1 ruling. In her first post-trial interview with NBC’s “Dateline” and Savannah Guthrie, the actor presented more evidence, including a binder of notes from her therapist that she said would have helped sway the court decision in her favor.
Heard also said that she “absolutely” still loves her ex-husband and that she will continue to stand by her court testimony until her “dying day.”
Amber Heard opened up about her defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp for NBC’s ‘Dateline.’ But it wasn’t enough to live up to the hype.
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