Amber Heard officially files to appeal verdict in Johnny Depp libel trial days after judge rejected request for new trial

metro.co.uk:

Amber Heard’s legal team has officially filed to appeal the verdict in her recent libel trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp. Following a bombshell trial in the US, a jury found that the Aquaman actress did defame Depp with her 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post about her experience with domestic abuse.Pirates of the Caribbean star Depp, 59, was awarded $15million (£13m) in total, broken down as $10m (£8.3m) in compensatory damages and $5m (£4m) in punitive damages.

However, this was capped at $350,000 (£293k) per Virginia state law reducing the total to $8.35m (£7m). Heard, 36, was awarded $2m (£1.7m) in compensatory damages, despite her counter-suing Depp for $100m (£83.6m) – he originally filed the lawsuit seeking $50m (£42m) from his ex-wife.

It has now been confirmed that her legal team filed documents with the Fairfax County court on Thursday to appeal the verdict.A spokesperson for Heard told Metro.co.uk: ‘We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. ‘We are therefore appealing the verdict.

While we realise today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.’ Depp’s spokesperson also said: ‘The jury listened to the extensive evidence presented during the six-week trial and came to a clear and unanimous verdict that the defendant herself defamed Mr Depp in multiple instances.