Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Depp Verdict: What Really Happened?

Episode Date: June 1, 2022

Actor Johnny Depp wins his defamation suit against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard. The jury found unanimously that Heard's published op-ed describing her as a  "public figure representing domestic abuse” tarnished Depp's reputation and damaged his career.  Amber Heard did win the second of her three counts in a $100 million counterclaim. The jury found that Depp's attorney Adam Waldman defamed Heard when he told the Daily Mail that Heard had set up Depp in a hoax when police answered a domestic call at their home in May 2016.  The jury awarded Heard  $2 million dollars. Depp was awarded $10.35 million: $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. Deliberations took about 13 hours.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Well, the verdict is in, and it was not a very long verdict watch, was it? Many people thought the jury may be out till tomorrow, may come back late, late this afternoon. Not true. This jury had their minds made up. I have seen jurors deliberate for days and days and days. So you think they're never gonna come back with a verdict.

And when they do, it will probably be a hung jury. No, this jury turned it around in a matter of hours. Long story short, Johnny Depp wins the blockbuster case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. You know her from Aquaman. The jury ruling that she defamed him with claims of physical and sex violence. Now, hold on. It ain't over yet. The jury also found for her in a much lesser way. The jury said that Johnny Depp's lawyer made a defamatory statement about Amber Heard and awarded her a couple million dollars as well. So long story short regarding the money, Johnny Depp is celebrating right now in the UK,

claiming, quote, the jury gave me my life back. He is going to walk away, even though he was awarded $15 million with about $8.35 million. Why is that? He was awarded $15 million in all. Part of that in punitive, part of that in compensatory damages. That's to compensate him for damage to his career. But there is a cap in that jurisdiction. In Virginia, the maximum on punitive damages of this nature is $350,000. So he's only going to get the 8.35 after paying Amber Heard.

So for those of you like me that did not major in math, that's $15 million, cutting one verdict down to $350,000, and he's got to pay Amber Heard $2 million. So, you know what? That's not exactly pocket change. That's nearly $10 million, but that's against the backdrop of him suing for millions and millions and her suing for millions and millions back. I wonder if the jury thought these were just two rich people fighting over money. I tend to think so because one side was asking for $100 million, the other side was asking for $50 million. The full award was less than $10 million. Amber Heard was in the courtroom today and she looked very, very serious as she should have. Depp, as I said, was in the UK. He says,

fulfilling a work commitment. He was supposed to be on tour with a band. What does it mean? Many people have reduced this down to a popularity contest i do not believe it was a popularity contest i believe that the jury disliked amber heard i believe they like me thought it was really odd that she kept filming arguments and filming Depp in very unflattering conditions, almost as if she was setting him up. Now, do I believe he ever hit her? Probably. Do I believe she set him up? Definitely. Do I believe she lied? Definitely. You put all that in the pot together, including the fact that she admitted on tape that she hit Depp as well. And basically, you got two wet cats in a barrel.

Which one is going to crawl out of the barrel first? Well, today, Depp crawled out first to the tune of 8.35 million. Has this set women back, real victims of domestic violence? That remains to be seen. I tend to think it has. Now, when a woman claims domestic violence, she's going to be accused of, quote, pulling an amber. It's going to happen. Do I like it? No. Is it true? Yes. I want to talk about domestic violence one moment. In addition to prosecuting and representing victims for years and years and years, I also worked at the Battered Women's Center as a volunteer for nine years, manning in addition to prosecuting and representing victims for years and years and years.

I also worked at the Battered Women's Center as a volunteer for nine years, manning the hotline. So many women are beaten brutally. So many women have nowhere to go. So many women stay in vicious, abusive homes to protect their children because they don't know what else to go or they don't have the resources to get away. This case will have an impact on those women. And that is really what troubles me most about this case. I was just saying this morning on air, a woman walked up to me at Target and said, do you believe Amber Heard faked her bruises?

To me, that was the death knell for Amber Heard. For the general public to believe she faked the whole thing, that's bad. That's really bad. And it is a bad omen for domestic violence victims in the future, legitimate, real victims. So I'm sure Johnny Depp is raising another glass of wine right now. And Amber Heard is crying somewhere over a foiled attempt to get back at Depp. Remember, this was all about an op-ed, a piece she wrote for the Washington Post, which, although she didn't name him by name, called out Johnny Depp as being an abuser.

That's how the whole thing started. Is it over yet? Probably not. There could be appeals to this verdict. There could be repercussions we can't even imagine right now. When you go to court, you got to get ready to roll the dice. You never know what a jury is going to do. You better have a lawyer like the rifleman. Remember how he would walk down the center of town with his hands slightly out to the side, ready to draw? You got to have a lawyer that's ready to object and be strong immediately, in the moment. And a lawyer that the jury can relate to.

And the parties. You really think this jury liked Amber Heard? I don't. But more critical is, did they believe her? I've put up a lot of witnesses I didn't like. But what mattered is, were they telling the truth? You don't have to be likable. You got to be believable.

That was the problem. She just wasn't believable. And there you have it. Case closed. Well, for now anyway, Nancy Grace signing off. Bye friend.