“The trial court improperly prevented the jury from considering several separate instances in which Heard reported Depp’s abuse to a medical professional,” Heard’s lawyers wrote in the 68-page document.
They added, “If not reversed, the trial court’s exclusion of contemporaneous reports of domestic abuse to medical professionals will make it more difficult for other abuse victims to prove allegations of abuse, and likely deter them from coming forward.”
Read More:
“This case also should never have gone to trial because another court had already concluded that Depp abused Heard on multiple occasions,” wrote Heard’s lawyers, in relation to the United Kingdom High Court of Justice’s ruling in a separate defamation suit brought by Depp that the actor was guilty of abusing his ex-wife.
In June 2022, Depp won a $10.35 million judgment after contending that his ex-wife’s op-ed in the Washington Post, in which she claimed to have been subjected to domestic abuse, was defamatory.
Although the actor won the major cases at trial, he was asked to pay $2 million to his wife following the trial and the one count of defamation he was guilty of.
The count is related to a statement made by Adam Waldman, one of Depp’s lawyers, claiming that Heard trashed her apartment with her friends and lied about it. A remark that was later revealed to be false.
Depp filed an appeal last month, arguing that the one allegation of defamation that Heard was successful in winning at trial was “erroneous.” He stated that he should not be held accountable for his lawyer’s statement.
The merits of both appeals will now be decided by a panel of judges in accordance with Virginia law. Heard and Depp have the option of taking the case to the Commonwealth’s Supreme Court, depending on how it turns out and who is left feeling let down.
