Los Angeles, United States
American actress Amber Heard has officially appealed the verdict she was convicted of for a crime of defamation against fellow actor Jonny Depp awarded a multi-million dollar severance package.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the actress’ legal team believes there were numerous errors made during the trial, such as the fact that the hearing was held in Virginia and that the court refused to consider various communications between Heard and some doctors allow evidence.
The protagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga accused Heard of slandering him in a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post.
At her sentencing, the jury convicted Heard and acquitted Depp 10 million dollars Compensatory and punitive damages of $5 million, which was later reduced to $350,000.
The jury too Heard awarded $2 million in damages as the actress counter-sued against her ex-partner, whom she also accused of a crime of defamation.
According to the Los Angeles newspaper, Heard filed this new court appeal Nov. 23 in the Virginia Court of Appeals.
In the appeal process, the legal team belongs it maintains that California is the only appropriate place for the trial and claims that Virginia is a “completely uncomfortable forum” for the case.
It notes that both “both parties and the majority of the factual witnesses … were residents of California and neither of them were residents of Virginia,” the newspaper notes.
It is also noted that irrelevant and damaging evidence to his client was admitted in the trial while third party communications were allegedly affects the mental state of both parties, including Heard’s communications with medical personnel.
Now the case will be brought before a three-member Senate of the Court of Appeals, which will rule on it. If Depp or Heard aren’t happy with the appeals court’s new ruling, they can petition the Virginia Supreme Court.
the sentence for it medial processissued unanimously by the jury on June 1, alleges that three sentences Heard wrote in a 2018 op-ed piece published by The Washington Post newspaper defamed Depp, although the actor also once defamed his ex-wife through his attorney at the time .