The actress' lawyer says "there is not any manner" the jury wasn't "influenced" by Johnny Depp's intense on-line supporters.
Amber Heard’s lawyer suggests a Virginia jury didn’t consider her consumer’s abuse claims due to social media.
Elaine Bredehoft spoke to NBC’s Right this moment on Thursday morning to slam the result of Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit towards Heard. The jury dominated Wednesday that Heard defamed Depp on three claims and that Depp defamed Heard on simply considered one of her counterclaims, leading to a serious authorized victory for the Pirates of the Caribbean actor.
Bredehoft stated the non-sequestered jury couldn't have escaped the bombardment of Twitter, Instagram and TikTok posts slamming her consumer. Requested if she thought social media had an affect on the case, Bredehoft replied “completely.”
“How will you not [see it]?” Bredehoft requested. “[The jury] went house each night time. They've households. The households are on social media. We had a 10-day break within the center due to the judicial convention. There’s no manner they couldn’t have been influenced by it. And it was horrible. It actually, actually was lopsided. It’s just like the Roman Colosseum.”
Surveys of social media discovered that the #JusticeForJohnny marketing campaign was much more pervasive than posts supporting Heard (to get a way of the disparity, Depp’s post-trial message to followers on Instagram has been preferred by 17 million, whereas Heard’s message has been preferred by about 300,000). Lots of the viral memes and posts had been significantly merciless, equivalent to mocking Heard’s obvious crying on the witness stand.
Bredehoft added that the six-week trial had change into a “zoo.”
“I used to be towards cameras within the courtroom, and I went on report with that and argued towards it due to the delicate nature of this,” she stated. “However it made it a zoo.”
Bredehoft urged one other issue was not being allowed to current sure proof. She stated Heard’s medical information weren't allowed within the trial, one thing she referred to as “very vital” as a result of they confirmed Heard reporting abuse to her therapist since 2012.
The lawyer additional famous Heard plans to attraction the decision, which requires the actress to pay Depp $10 million — a determine Bredehoft stated her consumer “completely” couldn't afford.
“Johnny Depp introduced a go well with within the U.Ok. for a similar case and the burden of proof was simpler for him there,” she stated. “The court docket discovered there — and we weren’t allowed to inform the jury this — however the court docket discovered that Mr. Depp had dedicated not less than 12 acts of home violence, together with sexual violence, towards Amber. So what did Depp’s group study from this? Demonize Amber and suppress the proof. We had an unlimited quantity of proof that was suppressed on this case that was within the U.Ok. case. Within the U.Ok. case, when it got here in, Amber received. Mr. Depp misplaced.”
Based on specialists interviewed byThe Washington Submit, Depp misplaced within the U.Ok. but received within the U.S. as a result of the U.Ok. case had a decide making the choice as a substitute of a jury. “We discover that [Depp’s legal team’s strategy of deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender] works very nicely with juries however virtually by no means works with judges, who're skilled to have a look at proof,” stated Mark Stephens, a global media lawyer. “Basically what you've got is a jury believing proof that a British decide didn't settle for.”
Heard beforehand stated in a press release that the decision was a disappointment “past phrases. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of proof nonetheless was not sufficient to face as much as the disproportionate energy, affect and sway of my ex-husband.”
Depp issued a press release saying: “The jury gave me my life again. I'm actually humbled.”