On Wednesday, a seven-person jury in Fairfax County dominated largely in Depp’s favor, agreeing with the actor that Heard harmed his fame when she wrote a 2018 Washington Submit op-ed (which didn’t title Depp) that mentioned she grew to become a public determine representing home abuse, two years after she had filed for divorce and a restraining order. As well as, the jury discovered that Depp, via his lawyer Adam Waldman, defamed Heard in certainly one of three statements that referred to as her accusations a hoax and awarded her $2 million.
Bredehoft mentioned that Heard was “heartbroken” after the decision. “One of many first issues she mentioned is, ‘I’m so sorry to all these ladies on the market,’ ” the lawyer mentioned, including that the decision sends “a horrible message.”
“It is a setback, a major setback … except you pull out your telephone and also you video your partner or your vital different beating you, successfully, you will not be believed,” she mentioned.
Guthrie identified that Heard’s authorized staff was capable of present the jury proof they mentioned demonstrated abuse, from the actress’s testimony to photos and paperwork. “The jury rejected it,” Guthrie mentioned.
Bredehoft responded that Depp’s staff “demonized” Heard and suppressed proof. She mentioned Heard’s legal professionals weren’t allowed to inform the jury that Depp misplaced a libel case in the UK in 2020 in opposition to the British tabloid the Solar, which the actor sued after a headline referred to as him a “spouse beater” and a decide discovered sufficient proof to assist Heard’s claims about 12 cases of home abuse.
“They have been capable of suppress the medical information, which have been very, very vital, as a result of they confirmed a sample going all the way in which again to 2012 of Amber reporting this to her therapist, for instance. We had vital quantity of texts, together with from Mr. Depp’s assistant, saying ‘Once I advised him he kicked you, he cried, he’s so sorry.’ That did not are available,” Bredehoft mentioned. “A variety of issues have been allowed on this court docket that ought to not have been allowed and it precipitated the jury to be confused.”
On “CBS Mornings,” Bredehoft talked to Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson; King famous that they reached out to Depp’s authorized staff, who declined to be interviewed. Dokoupil introduced up that authorized analysts have been shocked by the decision. (It is usually thought of simpler to show libel within the UK than in the USA.)
“On this case the jury not solely did not imagine Amber Heard, however in ruling that she acted with precise malice, I imply, had the intent to trigger hurt, proper?” he mentioned. “That is a reasonably excessive commonplace to have confirmed.”
Bredehoft responded that one subject was the cameras within the courtroom, one thing Depp’s staff had requested and Heard’s legal professionals have been in opposition to. “So not solely did now we have a bunch of Depp followers that have been there day-after-day — 100 have been allowed in, they lined up at 1 o’clock within the morning for his or her wristbands to be in that courtroom — however we had all the pieces on digital camera, and we had large social media that was very, very, very a lot in opposition to Amber.”
Though the jury was advised repeatedly to not learn something concerning the case, Bredehoft mentioned, “they’ve weekends, they’ve households, they’ve social media.” Bredehoft additionally talked about the 10-day break within the trial as a result of the decide needed to attend a convention. “How may they not have been influenced?”
Burleson advised Bredehoft that he is a former NFL participant, and “After a tough loss, it is simple to get up and level to the opposite aspect. Oftentimes, I spotted the higher factor to do was to look within the mirror,” he mentioned. “Do you’re feeling such as you guys made any errors alongside the way in which? Do you’re feeling like Amber made a mistake whereas she was on the stand?”
“You understand, Amber even mentioned on the stand, ‘I’m not excellent, I’m a human being.’ These individuals have been giving her loss of life threats. They threatened to microwave her child. That is the form of social media she was getting,” Bredehoft mentioned. “So are any of us excellent? No. Is there one thing else we really feel we should always have performed? Sure. . . . I at all times redo my closings 100 occasions afterwards, whether or not I win or lose. That is a part of being a great lawyer, a great trial lawyer — there’s at all times one thing.”
Nonetheless, she added, “I believe that there have been numerous influences right here that have been past our management.”