Amber Heard Reveals Her Appeal Against Johnny Depp Trial Ruling

Amber Heard and her legal team have presented the ground for appeal for the Johnny Depp defamation trial.

By James Brizuela | Published

Amber Heard and her legal team have officially outlined their appeal against Johnny Depp and the defamation trial ruling that took place back in June. According to the official documents, one of several grounds listed is that since both sides won in the case, the entire thing is, “inherently and irreconcilably inconsistent.” Depp walked away with $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, while Heard won a countersuit and was awarded $2 million.

Another of the grounds for the appeal is that Amber Heard and her legal team believe that the 2020 libel case she had won against Johnny Depp should have been included in the evidence presented to the court during this year’s defamation trial. Heard and her legal team has presented 16 grounds for appeal in the appellate brief to the Court of Appeals in Virginia. One ground calls for the case to have been dismissed entirely, and it should not have taken place in northern Virginia.

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We are not sure if any of Amber Heard’s grounds for appeal will work against Johnny Depp, but she has already seen plenty of failures happen regarding this case. Heard attempted several times to get the case thrown out by the judge who presided over the defamation lawsuit. Penney S. Azcarate is the judge that presided over the case and shut down one of the earliest appeals from Heard’s legal team, which was based on a misplaced juror who had apparently held bias over Heard.

Penney S. Azcarate indicated that Amber Heard and her legal team could have brought up the issue with the juror during the pretrial process with Johnny Depp. Since that issue had not been brought to the attention of the court, the appeal for dismissal was denied. Heard has been attempting everything in her power to reverse the decision that had been handed down back in June, and seemingly losing every battle along the way.

It could be that the court and Penney S. Azcarate are tired of having to deal with Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, so there is little success to be had by allowing Heard to continuously attempt to appeal the court’s decision. However, we are not legal experts, so we have to wait and see if any of these grounds for appeal hold any kind of merit.

Part of the drama that followed Amber Heard losing the defamation trial against Johnny Depp is that she was reportedly not able to pay the $10.35 in damages to Depp. While he was awarded $15 million initially, Virginia state law sets a max of punitive damages to $350,000. The $10.35 million became a massive amount considering Heard’s reputation had already begun to be damaged by the many court appearances that had taken place previously.

There have also been plenty of rumors that Amber Heard has been replaced in Aquaman 2, which would make paying back, Johnny Depp, that much more difficult. Those rumors have not been substantiated at all but Heard losing that part would certainly add to her monetary woes. Hiring high-priced lawyers is also something that could be damaging her bank account, as she continually attempts to sway the lawsuit back in her direction.