Amber Heard & Johnny Depp....Your thoughts? THREAD 2!

[Whatdoyouthinkaboutthisone]

Hi everyone,

I’ve started a second thread for anyone who wants to continue the debate!

Link to thread 1:-
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/3962491-Amber-Heard-Johnny-Depp-Your-thoughts

Excellent, have been following with interest, thanks!

Thanks @guinnessguzzler I’ve been following with interest too!

When are we likely to have a verdict (if verdict is even the right word)?

I wonder if NGN really thought he wouldn’t go through with the case or that AH would come over better than she did.

Please wait for the verdict.

@afternoon22
Do you mean the case isn’t been decided by a vote on MN

We can discuss the case whilst we wait for the verdict.

Watching as ever with interest.

Place marking

No date set for a verdict, it could be up to 6 months but more likely to be October time.

@SunbathingDragon - I'm not sure if it will be early September. I've seen that predicted in the press but I don't know the source for that. I can't see anything in the transcripts to suggest the judge has given a predicted date. It will appear when the judge is ready.

The process from here is that the judge writes a draft judgement and sends it to the lawyers for each side. They can point out any typographical errors, factual errors or omissions but they must not tell their clients (or anyone else) anything about the judgement at this stage. The draft gives the lawyers a chance to prepare any applications they may want to make arising from the judgement. It is also normal for the judge to ask the lawyers to draft any orders that need to be made to put the judgement into effect.

The lawyers will inform their clients of the substance of the judgement about an hour before it is handed down. The judgement is handed down in a brief court hearing. The judge will not read it in full but will hear any applications. It is possible the losers will apply for permission to appeal, for example. Permission will almost certainly be refused but they can then apply to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal.

Some think that ngn don’t care if they win or lose as I understand damages are capped at a relatively £325k?

Yes, the current ceiling for libel damages is around £300k-£325k. Given the serious nature of the allegations and The Sun's behaviour I wouldn't be surprised if damages are close to the ceiling. But I agree that, even if Depp receives the maximum, it is unlikely to worry NGN unduly.

Who?
Has he left Winona?

Thank you again prh47bridge and I hope you will continue to update once the verdict is announced.

Yes, the current ceiling for libel damages is around £300k-£325k. Given the serious nature of the allegations and The Sun's behaviour I wouldn't be surprised if damages are close to the ceiling. But I agree that, even if Depp receives the maximum, it is unlikely to worry NGN unduly.

And unlikely to make much of a difference to Depp either - didn’t he say he was £100m ‘in the hole’ after accumulating £650m through PotC? Those sums are just mind boggling.

I understand that this a case against the Sun but to the watching public, it has very much become JD v AH. Verdict will be against the news group in favour of Depp. He's Hollywood elite, despite his many gross habits, nobody likes AH, whether or not she's a victim doesn't matter because she'd unlikeable. JD 'wins' by default.
Much in the same way the tories kept winning elections because Corbyn was 'unelectable' , Jo public will always default to what they believe is the lesser of two evils, even if the 'lesser' is actually cruel, misogynistic, narcissistic and hedonistic, 'better the devil you know'.

The judge will decide the case on the evidence, not on how people feel about Depp and Heard. If the judge concludes that the evidence shows that, on the balance of probabilities, Depp is a wife beater he will lose. Whether or not Heard is a victim matters hugely to the judge. I don't think Depp will lose but to say that he will win as the lesser of two evils is simply wrong.

Wow, how offensive to assert that JD will win because he's 'Hollywood Elite' and not because he has been falsely vilified and his life ravaged by a baying media for being or doing something he isn't.

My 14st brother was woken up by his 8st wife beating him in bed with a golf club. If he didn't agree to her terms, she also threatened to 'ruin his career'.
If the media published that HE was the abuser (he's the most placid soul you'd meet), Would he simply win a court case because he 'had lots of friends', or a 'good job'?

Genuinely disgusted.

I totally agree with @TinySongstress. Only the judge will decide and he doesn't give two shiny shits how famous or likeable JD is.

With libel damages as (relatively) low as that it seems ever more likely that JD was suing to get the truth out there and clear his name as a wife beater.

He certainly didn’t bare his soul for the money, he knew that the revelations in court would expose his own behaviour and was prepared to be judged on that.

Famousforwrongreason - it doesn’t matter what ‘joe public’ think. This isn’t a jury case, and even if it were the judge would have instructed the jury to look only at the evidence put before them, not on the ‘likability’ if either of the parties. It is the judge alone who will decide on this case and he is under a very strict duty to apply the law to the best of his professional ability. He won’t give a toss about who the parties are - American, acting profession or otherwise. I think whatever the outcome it is likely to be appealed as otherwise it may have a knock on effect on the US proceedings (where the monetary and professional stakes are much higher). The judge will set out a very long a detailed explanation giving the reasons for his judgment and setting out the case law and other authorities behind it.

Nick Wallis has uploaded the Annex X document that wasn't quite finished on the last day of the trial, and the full "cupboard beater" video is now on YouTube.

I always felt something was a bit ‘off’ with her and wasn’t the slightest bit interested when this all came out. But then I saw her US deposition ! Wow! You can see that she is not taking it seriously and is just making stuff up on the spot. The contempt she shows is just shocking. I saw then that she was lying. I’ve followed this case since then and read all the court transcripts, etc. He deserves to win. She’s a classic narcissist.. and her freeloading friends were all in on it. She nearly got away with it but he fought back. I think she never thought, in a million years, that it would come to court. And she latched on the the ‘me too’ movement using her lies. A despicable woman. I hope she is done for perjury.

I’d recommend watching the series done by the youtube channel “live abuse free” on AH’s narcissism. It’s very good.

I hope she is done for perjury.

We need to wait for the verdict first but if she is proven to have lied, isn’t that similar to countless others who go on trial and put forward all kinds of spurious defence arguments and are never prosecuted?

Does anyone know the likelihood of being prosecuted for perjury as the last time I can think of was years ago (Huhne/Pryce) and that was very different circumstances, although still a divorced couple.

I think very unlikely, but even the threat of it would be valid. Also, the ‘embellishments’ she made as she went along (birds flying around, Kate Moss, the sexual assault claim, blah blah) are all fodder for the press. So it becomes a trial by media. Not many people read the court docs (lockdown bonus!) so she’s just chucking in bits and bobs of drama. As Jerry Judge said ‘... she knows exactly what she’s doing?’

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8171963/Amber-Heard-hired-private-investigator-dig-dirt-Johnny-Depp-nasty-legal-battle.html