On Wednesday, a seven-person jury in Fairfax County dominated largely in Depp’s favor, agreeing with the actor that Heard harmed his status when she wrote a 2018 Washington Publish 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, by means of his lawyer Adam Waldman, defamed Heard in considered 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 girls on the market,’ ” the lawyer mentioned, including that the decision sends “a horrible message.”
“It is a setback, a big setback … until you pull out your cellphone and also you video your partner or your important different beating you, successfully, you will not be believed,” she mentioned.
Guthrie identified that Heard’s authorized group was in a position to present the jury proof they mentioned demonstrated abuse, from the actress’s testimony to footage and paperwork. “The jury rejected it,” Guthrie mentioned.
Bredehoft responded that Depp’s group “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 choose discovered sufficient proof to help Heard’s claims about 12 cases of home abuse.
“They had been in a position to suppress the medical data, which had been very, very important, as a result of they confirmed a sample going all the best way again to 2012 of Amber reporting this to her therapist, for instance. We had important quantity of texts, together with from Mr. Depp’s assistant, saying ‘Once I instructed him he kicked you, he cried, he’s so sorry.’ That did not are available in,” Bredehoft mentioned. “A lot of issues had been allowed on this court docket that ought to not have been allowed and it brought about 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 group, who declined to be interviewed. Dokoupil introduced up that authorized analysts had been stunned by the decision. (It is usually thought of simpler to show libel within the UK than in america.)
“On this case the jury not solely did not consider 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 fairly excessive customary to have confirmed.”
Bredehoft responded that one concern was the cameras within the courtroom, one thing Depp’s group had requested and Heard’s legal professionals had been in opposition to. “So not solely did we have now a gaggle of Depp followers that had been there each day — 100 had 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 the whole lot on digicam, and we had super social media that was very, very, very a lot in opposition to Amber.”
Though the jury was instructed 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 choose needed to attend a convention. “How may they not have been influenced?”
Burleson instructed Bredehoft that he is a former NFL participant, and “After a tough loss, it is simple to get up and level to the opposite facet. 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 best way? Do you’re feeling like Amber made a mistake whereas she was on the stand?”
“You recognize, Amber even mentioned on the stand, ‘I’m not good, I’m a human being.’ These individuals had been giving her dying threats. They threatened to microwave her child. That is the form of social media she was getting,” Bredehoft mentioned. “So are any of us good? No. Is there one thing else we really feel we should always have achieved? Sure. . . . I all the time redo my closings 100 instances afterwards, whether or not I win or lose. That is a part of being an excellent lawyer, an excellent trial lawyer — there’s all the time one thing.”
Nonetheless, she added, “I feel that there have been numerous influences right here that had been past our management.”