After a jury found Amber Heard defamed ex-husband Johnny Depp and ordered her to pay the actor damages amounting to $15 million, legal experts are weighing in on how Heard might do so in light of testimony suggesting she has had “financial difficulties.”
“Whenever anyone claims an inability to pay a judgment, the prevailing party is entitled to broad discovery on that point,” Duncan Levin, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer who has represented Clare Bronfman, the former leader of NXIVM and a conflicted felon, told the Daily Beast. “Here, that means that Depp, now that he has won, will be likely entitled to see financial records and even take depositions on her ability to pay.”
INSIDE THE COURTROOM: JOHNNY DEPP V. AMBER HEARD BOMBSHELL VERDICT
During the trial, Depp lawyer Camille Vasquez pressed Heard about her inability to pay a $7 million pledge to the American Civil Liberties Union following her and Depp’s divorce in 2017, saying Heard did not keep her word because of the lawsuit.
“I still fully intend on honoring all of my pledges,” Heard said while giving testimony. “I would love him to stop suing me so I can.”
Terence Dougherty, ACLU chief operating officer and general counsel, also testified that Heard stopped making payments on her pledge in 2018 after “we learned she was having financial difficulties.”
“I don’t think she can pay. She kept the $7 million because she had to pay for legal fees,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said, noting that Heard has 30 years to pay Depp, according to Virginia law. “The question is whether Johnny Depp is really going to enforce the judgment against his ex-wife. Is he really going to take her wages? She may have to raise her bank accounts in order to do so.”
The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Because the trial took place in Virginia, however, the punitive damages Heard must pay are reduced to a maximum of $350,000.
“This whole trial is about more than money,” Rahmani added. “It’s about vindication and about setting the facts straight.”
A spokeswoman for Heard, Alafair Hall, reportedly said the actress plans to appeal the jury’s decision.
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In addition to awarding Depp compensatory and punitive damages, the jury also found that Depp defamed Heard regarding a statement made by his former lawyer, Adam Waldman.
Heard was subsequently awarded $2 million in damages. However, the jury did not find two other statements presented by the actress’s suit to be defamatory.
