REVEALED: Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard jury must answer FORTY-TWO questions – 24 on actor’s claims and 18 on ex-wife’s – before they reach verdict in $100M fight and decide damages – as case that gripped the world closes
- The document was released by the federal court in Fairfax and shows there are 24 questions for Johnny Depp’s claims and 18 for Amber Heard’s counterclaim
- Spanning eight pages, it means the jury has to decide on dozens of matters before reaching their verdict – which is set to be delivered this week
- The document also contains a section where they will have to decide on the damages for Depp and Heard – and any punitive damages
- Closing arguments finished on Friday in blockbuster defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
- The case is now being deliberated by the jury after six weeks of graphic and raw evidence about Depp and Heard’s four year relationship and 15 month marriage
The Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard $100million libel case is so complicated, that the verdict sheet has 42 questions the jury must answer before the deliver a verdict, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The document was released by the court in Fairfax, Virginia and shows that there are 24 questions for Depp’s claims and 18 for Heard’s counterclaim.
A verdict form is used to formalize the jury’s decision on the case.
Spanning eight pages, it means the jury has to decide on dozens of matters before reaching their verdict.
There is also a section where they will have to decide on the damages for Depp and Heard – and any punitive damages.
The case is now being deliberated by the jury after six weeks of graphic and raw evidence about Depp and Heard’s stormy four year relationship and 15 month marriage.
Jurors in the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard $100million libel case are being required to answer 42 questions concerning both actors’ claims before being allowed deliver a verdict, documents filed in federal court in Fairfax, Virginia, reveal
Depp is seeking $50m from Heard for allegedly defaming him with an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018 which claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse.
Heard, pictured here with attorney Elaine Bredehoff on Friday, countersued for $100m claiming that Depp’s lawyer defamed her by claiming her allegations were an ‘abuse hoax’
Depp is seeking $50m from Heard for allegedly defaming him with an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018 which claimed she was a survivor of domestic abuse.
According to the Pirates of the Caribbean star, even though it didn’t mention him by name it was obviously about him.
Heard countersued for $100m claiming that Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman defamed her by claiming her allegations were an ‘abuse hoax’.
The verdict sheet, called a ‘Special Verdict Form’ asks the jury eight questions about each of the three statements at issue in Heard’s op-ed.
They were that Heard ‘spoke up against sexual violence – and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change’.
The document, filed in federal court last week, contains a section where jurors will have to decide on the damages for Depp
One of the statements jurors were asked to discern if inflammatory, made by Heard in a Washington Post piece that alleged she was abused by Depp
The second statement is: ‘Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out’.
The third is: ‘I had the rare vantage point of seeing in real time how institutions protect men accused of abuse’.
In each case the jury has to ‘find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation’.
If the answer is no, then they can move on to the next statement.
But if they answer yes then the jury has to confirm all the necessary elements of defamation: that the statement as published by Heard, it was about Depp, that it was false, has a defamatory implication, that it was ‘designed and intended by Heard’ and that it ‘conveyed a defamatory implication’ to someone who saw it other than Depp.
It is six years ago to the day that Amber Heard filed a restraining order against Depp, which Vasquez said ‘ruined’ the actor’s life
Closing arguments finifshed in the blockbuster defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Friday. The proceedings saw Depp’s all-star attorney Camille Vasquez began by labeling Amber Heard an ‘abuser’
The final question for each statement in the op-ed is whether it was proven by ‘clear and convincing evidence’ that Heard acted with ‘actual malice’.
The test is to show that the statements in question were made knowing they were false, the threshold for defamation.
For Heard’s claims against Depp, the jury has to answer six questions for each of the three statements at issue made by Waldman, Depp’s lawyer, to the media in 2020.
They were that Heard used ‘fake sexual violence allegations as both a sword and a shield,’ that the claims were an ‘ambush, a hoax’ and that Heard and her friends faked a crime scene, and that the allegations were an ‘abuse hoax’.
In each case the jury has to answer whether Heard has proven all the elements of defamation.
If yes then the jury has to go through each of the necessary elements: did Waldman make the statements while acting as an agent for Depp, was the statement about Heard, was it seen by someone other than Head and was it false.
‘There is an abuser in this courtroom but it’s not Mr. Depp. There’s a victim of abuse in this court but it’s not Miss Heard,’ Vaquez said Friday. ‘Miss Heard is in fact the abuser and Mr. Depp is the abused.’ Jurors will likely deliver a verdict in the complex libel case this week
The jury also has to find that Waldman acted with ‘actual malice.’
For both Depp and Heard’s claims the jury has to enter an amount for damages and punitive damages.
Both sides are asking for at least $350,000 in punitive damages, plus legal fees and court costs.
While Depp has not disclosed how much he has spent on attorneys, Heard told the court she has blown $6m on legal fees, though that number may have included a previous trial in London in 2020 which covered similar allegations.
During closing arguments on Friday Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez described Heard as a ‘deeply troubled person’.
She said: ‘There is an abuser in this courtroom but it’s not Mr. Depp. There’s a victim of abuse in this court but it’s not Miss Heard.
‘Miss Heard is in fact the abuser and Mr Depp is the abused.’
Heard’s lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn urged the jury not to become an ‘accomplice’ in sending a message to survivors of abuse that they have to be perfect.
He said that abusive texts shown to the jury were a ‘window into the soul of America’s favorite pirate’, referring to Depp’s role as Captain Jack Sparrow.
Depp was pictured smiling and waving to fans when he left the courthouse while Amber Heard was seen hugging her lawyer as jurors began deliberations Friday.
He left and shook hands with police officers before appeasing the large crowd of fans outside who were armed with banners and cameras.
Heard’s legal team had told the jury in closing arguments to ‘think about the message’ Johnny Depp and his legal team are sending Heard and ‘by extension every victim of domestic violence.’
Taking the floor Friday, Heard’s lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn said, ‘If you didn’t take pictures it didn’t’ happen. If you did take pictures they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends they’re lying. If you did tell your friends they’re part of the hoax.’
‘Failure to seek medical attention meant you were not injured,’ Rottenborn said. ‘If you do seek medical treatment then you’re crazy and if you do everything to help your spouse rid himself of drugs and drink then ‘you’re a nag.’
Rottenborn continued, ‘And if you decide enough is enough and you have to leave to save yourself you’re a gold digger. That’s the message Mr. Depp is asking you to send.
He said that in Johnny Depp’s ‘world’ you don’t leave him, and if you do ‘he will start campaign of global humiliation against you.
‘He will do everything he can to destroy your life, to destroy your career. That’s what they’re trying to get you to be an accomplice to.’
‘Mr. Depp cannot and will not take responsibility for his own actions.’
Jurors are set to resume deliberations Tuesday, with a verdict in the coming days imminent.
The 42 questions Depp v. Heard jurors are required to answer before delivering their verdict
SPECIAL VERDICT FORM
Mr. Depp’s Claim Against Ms. Heard
This special verdict form includes each of the statements on which John C. Depp, II, bases his claim of defamation against Amber Heard. Answer the questions in accordance with the Court’s instructions.
1. As to this statement appearing in the online op-ed, entitled “Amber Heard: I spoke
up against sexual violence and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change” in the Washington
Post’s online edition:
“I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.”
1(a). Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
If you answer question 1(a) “NO,” please proceed to question 2.
If you answered “YES,” please answer YES or NO to the following
questions: Has Mr. Depp proven by a greater weight of the evidence that:
The statement was made or published by Ms. Heard?
The statement was about Mr. Depp?
The statement was false?
The statement has a defamatory implication about Mr. Depp?
The defamatory implication was designed and intended by Ms. Heard?
Due to circumstances surrounding the publication of the statement, it conveyed a defamatory implication to someone who saw it other than Mr. Depp?
1(b). If you answered “YES” to each subpart of question 1(a), answer the following question: do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Heard acted with actual malice?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
2. As to this statement appearing in the op-ed entitled “A Transformative Moment For Women” in the Washington Post’s print edition and the online op-ed “Amber Heard. I spoke up against sexual violence–and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change in the Washington Post’s online edition:
“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”
2(a). Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation?
ANSWER YES OR NO: If you answer question 2(a) “NO,” please proceed to question 3.
If you answered “YES,” please answer YES or NO to the following questions: Has Mr. Depp proven by a greater weight of the evidence that:
The statement was made or published by Ms. Heard?
The statement was about Mr. Depp?
The statement was false?
The statement has a defamatory implication about Mr. Depp?
The defamatory implication was designed and intended by Ms. Heard?
Due to circumstances surrounding the publication of the statement, it conveyed a defamatory implication to someone who saw it other than Mr. Depp?
2(b). If you answered “YES” to each subpart of question 2(a), answer the following question: do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Heard acted with actual malice?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
3. As to this statement appearing in the op-ed entitled “A Transformative Moment For Women” in the Washington Post’s print edition and the online op-ed “Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change in the Washington Post’s online edition:
“I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
3(a). Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation?
ANSWER YES OR NO: If you answer question 3(a) “NO,” please proceed to question 4.
If you answered “YES,” please answer YES or NO to the following questions: Has Mr. Depp proven by a greater weight of the evidence that:
The statement was made or published by Ms. Heard?
The statement was about Mr. Depp?
The statement was false?
The statement has a defamatory implication about Mr. Depp?
The defamatory implication was designed and intended by Ms. Heard?
Due to circumstances surrounding the publication of the statement, it conveyed a defamatory implication to someone who saw it other than Mr. Depp?
3(b). If you answered “YES” to each subpart of question 3(a), answer the following question: do you find that Mr. Depp has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Ms. Heard acted with actual malice?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
Complete Questions 4-5 ONLY if you answered YES to all of questions 1, 2, or 3.
4. As against Amber Heard, state the amount of compensatory damages, if any, you believe John C. Depp, II has proven, by a greater weight of the evidence, that he is entitled to recover:
We, the Jury, award compensatory damages in the amount of $_______
As against Amber Heard state the amount of punitive damages, if any, to which you find John C. Depp, II is entitled to recover:
We, the Jury, award punitive damages in the amount of $________
SPECIAL VERDICT FORM
Ms. Heard’s Claim Against Mr. Depp
This special verdict form includes each of the statements on which Amber Heard bases her claim of defamation against John C. Depp, II. Answer the questions in accordance with the Court’s instructions.
1. As to this statement appearing in the April 8, 2020 online edition of The Daily Mail:
“Amber Heard and her friends in the media use fake sexual violence allegations as both a sword and shield, depending on their needs. They have selected some of her sexual violence hoax ‘facts as the sword, inflicting them on the public and Mr. Depp.”
1(a). Do you find that Ms. Heard has proven all the elements of defamation? ANSWER YES OR NO: If you answer question 1(a) “NO,” please proceed to question 2.
If you answered “YES,” please answer YES or NO to the following questions: Has Ms. Heard proven by a greater weight of the evidence that:
Mr. Waldman, while acting as an agent for Mr. Depp, made or published the statement? T
he statement was about Ms. Heard?
The statement was seen by someone other than Ms. Heard?
The statement was false?
1(b). If you answered “YES” to each subpart of question 1(a), answer the following question: do you find that Ms. Heard has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the statement by Mr. Waldman was made with actual malice?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
2. As to this statement appearing in the April 27, 2020 online edition of The Daily Mail:
“Quite simply this was an ambush, a hoax. They set Mr. Depp up by calling the cops but the first attempt didn’t do the trick. The officers came to the penthouses, thoroughly searched and interviewed, and left after seeing no damage to face or property. So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911.”
2(a). Do you find that Ms. Heard has proven all the elements of defamation?
ANSWER YES OR NO: If you answer question 2(a) “NO,” please proceed to question 2.
If you answered “YES,” please answer YES or NO to the following questions: Has Ms. Heard proven by a greater weight of the evidence that:
Mr. Waldman, while acting as an agent for Mr. Depp, made or published the statement?
The statement was about Ms. Heard?
The statement was seen by someone other than Ms. Heard?
The statement was false?
2(b). If you answered “YES” to each subpart of question 2(a), answer the following question: do you find that Ms. Heard has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the statement by Mr. Waldman was made with actual malice?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
3. As to this statement appearing in the April 27, 2020 online edition of The Daily Mail:
“We have reached the beginning of the end of Ms. Heard’s abuse hoax against Johnny Depp.”
3(a). Do you find that Ms. Heard has proven all the elements of defamation?
ANSWER YES OR NO: If you answer question 3(a) “NO,” please proceed to question 4.
If you answered “YES,” please answer YES or NO to the following questions: Has Ms. Heard proven by a greater weight of the evidence that:
Mr. Waldman, while acting as an agent for Mr. Depp, made or published the statement?
The statement was about Ms. Heard?
The statement was seen by someone other than Ms. Heard?
The statement was false?
3(b). If you answered “YES” to each subpart of question 3(a), answer the following question: do you find that Ms. Heard has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the statement by Mr. Waldman was made with actual malice?
ANSWER YES OR NO:
Complete Questions 4-5 ONLY if you answered YES to all of questions 1, 2, or 3.
As against John C. Depp, II, state the amount of compensatory damages, if any, you believe Amber Heard has proven, by a greater weight of the evidence, that she is entitled to recover:
We, the Jury, award compensatory damages in the amount of $_______
As against John C. Depp, II, state the amount of punitive damages, if any, you to which you find Amber Heard is entitled to recover:
We, the Jury, award punitive damages in the amount of $____________
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