Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial aftermath news summary: Friday 15 July 2022
Depp v Heard trial aftermath: Friday 15 July 2022
NBC News releases short documentary on the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial
OUT NOW: NBC News releases "A Marriage On Trial: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, And Truth In The Age Of Social Media," which details the role social media played in the trial and how it framed the public's perception.
Check it out below.
Johnny Depp meets up with his legal team
Johnny Depp was seen with his legal team at a show in Los Angeles earlier this week. Present was Camille Vasquez, who rose in prominence during the defamation trial. Vasquez was promoted to partner after her performance in the case.
Johnny Depp posts video from his tour with Beck
He posted on Instagram "‘18’ …Out now!!!" which refers to the release of the album he collaborated on with Beck.
Praise for Johnny Depp as an artist
Johnny Depp, besides being a world-famous movie star is also a musician and an artist. In January, he began selling NFT works of art that he made consisting of family, friends, personal heroes and self-portraits in his “Never Fear Truth” art collection.
Depp posted some praise for his artistic talents from fellow actor Dustin Hoffman who said he's "an artist" and if sales define quality other agree. Business can't be bad as he donated $800,000 of the proceeds from the venture to four children's hospitals.
Camille Vasquez seen back stage with Johnny Depp at Jeff Beck concert
It's been a little over a month since Johnny Depp won his defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Libel cases are considered extremely difficult to prove, but his lawyer Camille Vasquez swayed the jurors and they award the 'Pirates of the Carribean' star $15 million in damages.
Vasquez has become a celebrity in her own right as millions tuned in to watch the six-week trial unfold on TV. This week Depp's lawyer was seen at a Jeff Beck concert in Prague and video of her meeting up with her client backstage has gone viral. Depp has been touring with the British guitarist since hearings in the defamation trial wrapped up.
Why did Depp settle 'Rocky' Brooks lawsuit?
The latest episode of Law & Crime’s Sidebar podcast discusses Johnny Depp’s recent decision to settle an assault lawsuit against him, filed by a location manager who claims the actor punched him during filming of the 2018 movie City of Lies.
The move by Depp comes despite witnesses indicating the 59-year-old didn’t assault Gregg ‘Rocky’ Brooks, whose suit was due to go to trial later in July.
According to legal expert Mitra Ahouraian, Depp’s decision most likely comes down to a desire to avoid another protracted courtroom battle, having just been through a six-week case against Amber Heard.
“Maybe at this point Johnny Depp is like, ‘Let’s just clean the slate and let’s just settle this and move on from all of it. Fine, we’ll pay you something,’” Ahouraian told podcast host Angenette Levy.
"I think it’s, ‘Do I want to sit in another trial after coming of this massive trial of a lifetime?’”
Ahouraian added: “Our justice system doesn’t always come out on top, so to speak, and sometimes settling cases, or oftentimes settling cases, is probably the smarter choice just in terms of time, energy and resources. I cannot imagine that Johnny Depp wants to spend any more energy on a dispute like this.”
AS USA's Will Gittins has looked back over some of the stranger moments in the six-week Depp v Heard trial.
Depp, Beck album 18 "a peculiar and hugely uneven record"
The Guardian's Michael Hann has delivered a devastating review of Depp and Beck's album 18, branding it a "dull display of colossal self-pity".
"The perfunctory covers on this collaborative album serve to show just how bad Depp’s own songwriting is, as he rants about how awful it is to be him," Hann says.
He concludes: "18 is a peculiar and hugely uneven record. And it would be a peculiar and hugely uneven record even if Depp had never been near a courtroom in his life."
Depp, Beck to perform in Switzerland today
Johnny Depp's tour with musician Jeff Beck continues, and the pair's next port of call is the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, where they'll be performing tonight.
Depp and Beck's following tour date is a concert in Perugia, Italy, on Sunday.
'Juror 15' argument "so tenuous" - legal expert
Entertainment lawyer Mitra Ahouraian says it's no surprise that Judge Azcarate dismissed Amber Heard's motion for a mistrial over claims that a member of the jury wasn't the person the court summoned.
"The argument about this 'Juror No. 15' was so tenuous, if it even was an argument at all," Ahouraian told Law & Crime's Sidebar podcast.
She added: "We have the questionnaire that the court pulled [in which the juror's personal information] was correct and there really wasn't any mistakes made here.
"And even if there was a mistake, they have to go beyond that and show that there was a violation of [Heard's] due process rights, and that this actually affected the outcome in some way. They didn't even try to bother arguing that it did."
"There is no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing"
In her rejection of Heard's post-trial motions, Azcarate wrote:
“The Summons issues to Juror Fifteen listed his legal name and address and no birth date was noted. The Court has pulled Juror Fifteen’s Jury Questionnaire […]. Juror Fifteen completed the Jury Questionnaire as himself filling in his proper birth date. The information presented on the Jury Questionnaire matches the information Juror Fifteen provided to the Court. Juror Fifteen was vetted by the Court on the record and met the statutory requirements for service.
“The parties also questioned the jury panel for a full day and informed the Court that the jury panel was acceptable. Therefore, Due Process was guaranteed and provided to all parties in this litigation. Voir dire was conducted in a fair and impartial manner, with the Court and both parties examining the potential jurors. There is no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing.”
ICYMI: Heard post-trial motions thrown out
A reminder that Judge Penny Azcarate on Wednesday rebuffed the post-trial motions filed by Amber Heard's legal team - most notably a call for a mistrial to be declared over the identity of one of the members of the jury at Fairfax County Court, Virginia.
Heard's attorneys argued that due process was not observed in the composition of the jury, claiming that one of the jurors was not the person originally summoned for duty.
According to Heard's lawyer Elaine Bredehoft, the man who reported for jury service as 'Juror 15' is aged 52, born in 1970, and could not be the individual summoned in April, who is 77. Both share the same name and are resident at the same address.
However, Azcarate said that Amber Heard’s team had not “shown evidence of prejudice” and that "due process was guaranteed and provided".
Depp v Heard aftermath, live updates: welcome
Good morning! It's Friday 15 July 2022 and welcome to our daily live blog on the fallout from the Depp v Heard defamation case.