FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A jury has resumed deliberations after a sensational six-week trial to resolve defamation claims by Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard over their volatile and unhappy marriage.
The seven-person civil jury heard closing arguments Friday and deliberated for about two hours before leaving for the long Memorial Day weekend. Jurors resumed deliberations in Fairfax County Circuit Court just after 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, accusing her of libeling him with a 2018 op-ed she wrote describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star after his lawyer called her allegations a hoax. Each accuses the other of destroying their career.
Testimony featured a litany of lurid details of their short marriage. Heard testified that Depp physically or sexually assaulted her more than a dozen times. During his testimony, Depp testified that he never struck Heard, that she concocted the abuse allegations, and that she was the one who physically attacked him, multiple times.
During closing arguments, both sides told the jury that a verdict in their favor would give their clients their lives back.
