Amber Heard with her attorneys Elaine Bredehoft and Benjamin Rottenborn (Portal)
Amber Heard has changed her legal team to handle the appeal of the Johnny Depp defamation trial verdict. On Monday, a rep for the 36-year-old actress announced that she has hired Ballard Spahr’s David L. Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown, with Ben Rottenborn as co-advisers. Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, who represented Heard in the six-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia earlier this year, has withdrawn.
“When it comes to protecting the fundamental right to freedom of expression, we do not see the jury’s decision to paraphrase a famous quote as ‘the beginning of the end, but simply the end of the beginning’. A different court deserves different representation, especially now that so much new evidence is coming to light,” a spokesman for Heard said in a statement.
Bredehöft said: “This is the perfect time to pass the baton. I have pledged my full cooperation and support to Amber and her appeals team as they progress along the path to success.”
Attorneys Axelrod and Brown successfully defended The New York Times against Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit earlier this year.
They said in a joint statement: “We welcome the opportunity to represent Ms. Heard on this appeal as this is a case that has important First Amendment implications for all Americans. We trust that the Court of Appeal will correctly apply the law without regard to popularity, overturn the judgment against Ms Heard and reaffirm the basic principles of freedom of expression.”.
Amber Heard hugs her attorney Elaine Bredehoft after hearing the verdict against her (Portal)
In early June, a seven-member jury ruled unanimously that Heard had defamed Depp in an op-ed for the Washington Post. The actress’ legal team requested a new trial, which was denied, and then appealed the verdict in favor of the actor, who must pay $10 million in damages.
His legal team has repeatedly stated that his client does not have the money.
On July 21, the actress appealed the verdict. “We believe the Court made errors that prevented a fair and consistent First Amendment ruling.”, a Heard spokesman said in a statement regarding the constitutional amendment protecting freedom of speech. The text, which gave no further detail on Heard’s defense arguments, concludes “Though today the bonfires of Twitter will be lit,” they decided to appeal the verdict to “ensure both fairness and justice.”
Judge Penney Azcarate denied Heard’s request for a trial, and Heard later formally appealed the verdict.
A spokesman for Depp said in a statement: “The jury heard extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and reached a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant had defamed Mr Depp on multiple counts. We remain confident in our case and that this judgment will stand.a”.
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Amber Heard appealed the verdict that ordered her to pay Johnny Depp $10 million