Amber Heard announces that she’ll appeal verdict of defamation trial

The judge in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial made a jury's award official with a written order for Heard to pay Depp US$10.35mil for damaging his reputation by describing herself as a domestic abuse victim in an op-ed piece she wrote. Photos: AP

Amber Heard is not backing down yet.

On Friday (June 24), the legal teams of Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp convened at a Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom with Judge Penney Azcarate.

Instead of finalising a settlement, Heard’s representatives said the actor will appeal the outcome of the six-week defamation trial.

“As stated in yesterday’s congressional hearings, you don’t ask for a pardon if you are innocent. And you don’t decline to appeal if you know you are right,” a spokesperson for Heard said.

The meeting comes just weeks after the contentious televised trial concluded on June 1.

The jury awarded Depp US$15mil in damages, eventually downsized to slightly more than US$10mil per Virginia’s statutory limit, and US$2mil to Heard.

According to Deadline, Azcarate told Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft that the actor will have to pay an us$8.35mil bond and 6% yearly interest for the appeal to formally proceed.

Bredehoft previously said that Heard is “absolutely not” able to afford the judgment, which casts doubt on the affordability of a possible appeal.

Neither Heard nor Depp were present for Friday’s hearing.

Heard has continued pleading her case following the June 1 ruling.

In her first post-trial interview with NBC’s Dateline and Savannah Guthrie, the actor presented more evidence, including a binder of notes from her therapist that she said would have helped sway the court decision in her favor.

Heard also said that she “absolutely” still loves her ex-husband and that she will continue to stand by her court testimony until her “dying day”. –Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service