Amber Heard filed an appeal for a new trial against Pirates of the Caribbean actor Johnny Depp only a few weeks after Johnny Depp challenged his lone victory in the well publicised defamation lawsuit. The attorneys for the Aquaman star said in the appeal that the decision will have a ‘chilling effect’ on women who are attempting to speak out about the mistreatment of strong men.
The Virginia court decided in Johnny Depp’s favour in the defamation case involving Amber Heard in May after six weeks of hearings. According to Deadline, the Aquaman actress has now asked for a fresh trial. The court document provided by Amber Heard’s lawyers say, the trial court incorrectly refused to dismiss this action on the grounds of forum non conveniens because it mistakenly believed that Depp’s allegations originated in Virginia because the Washington Post’s servers are located here. The trial court erred when it dismissed Heard’s demurrer, in which she argued that the comments in question are merely expressions of opinion and are not able to convey the alleged defamatory inference.
The statement continued, ‘That holding will surely have a chilling effect on other women who seek to speak about abuse by prominent men if allowed to stand.’
‘This case also should never have gone to trial because another court had already found that Depp had abused Heard on numerous occasions,’ the appeal continued. The United Kingdom High Court of Justice decided that Heard’s abuse allegations were true after Depp filed this lawsuit in a separate defamation case.
Post Your Comments