Amber Heard’s primary lawyer has gone out in the aftermath of her stunning civil suit loss, claiming that the actress is unable to pay the $8.35 million in damages she owes Johnny Depp.
Elaine Charlson Bredhoft, the lawyer who defended Heard at trial, spoke on the Today Show on Thursday and stated that Heard has “strong grounds” to appeal the conviction and intends to do so.
When asked if the Aquaman actress would be able to pay Depp’s compensation after a jury found that she misled by accusing him of violence during their marriage, Bredhoft said, ‘No, certainly not.’
A jury in Virginia awarded Depp more than $10 million in damages in a bombshell decision on Wednesday. Heard also won a $2 million judgment against Depp in a split decision, leaving her paying him little more than $8 million.
Bredhoft added, it’s a dreadful message. The decision is a setback, a huge one since that’s precisely what it signifies. Unless you bring out your phone and record your husband or significant other abusing you, you will not be believed.
Although the judge’s stringent orders not to read anything about the case outside of court, the attorney argued that the jury in the case had been influenced by public opinion, especially on social media.
‘There is no way they could not have been swayed. It was dreadful. ‘It was extremely, terribly unbalanced,’ Bredhoft said of public opinion in the case against Heard. ‘It’s like the Roman coliseum,’ said one observer of the case.
According to Bredhoft, Depp’s legal team attempted to “demonise Amber and bury the facts.”
‘In this instance that was in the UK court, we had an unbelievable amount of material hidden,’ she added, referring to Depp’s defamation claim against the Sun, which he lost. ‘When the UK case came in, Amber won, and Mr. Depp lost.’
When asked if the result meant that the jury just did not believe Heard, Bredhoft responded, that’s because she was vilified here. A lot of things were permitted in this court that should not have been permitted, she continued, causing the jurors to be perplexed.
Heard was feeling the ‘weight’ of Wednesday’s decision, according to Bredhoft. The lawyer explained, one of the first things she said was, she is sorry to all those ladies out there. This is a disappointment. For all women, both within and outside of the courtroom. And she feels the responsibility of that.
The judgments brought to a close a broadcast trial that Depp had believed would help rebuild his career, but instead evolved into a spectacle that provided a glimpse into a nasty and chaotic marriage.
Heard, who remained silent in the courtroom as the decision was pronounced, expressed her heartbreak.
She stated in a message on her Twitter account that she is even more saddened by the implications of this decision for other women. This is a setback. It reverts to a time when a woman who spoke up and out may be publicly shamed. It undermines the notion that violence against women should be treated seriously.
— Amber Heard (@realamberheard) June 1, 2022
Depp, who was not present in court on Wednesday, stated that the jury handed me his life back. He is really honored.
He hope that his search for the truth has benefited others, men or women, who have found themselves in his situation, and that those who support them never quit,’ he added in an Instagram message.
Depp filed a libel suit against Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court in December 2018 for an op-ed she penned in The Washington Post identifying herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” His attorneys claimed that the piece defamed him despite the fact that it never stated his name.
The jury ruled in favour of Depp on all three of his allegations based on specific comments in the 2018 film.
