US actor Johnny Depp reacts to fans in the courtroom as court finishes for the day during the 50 million US dollar Depp vs Heard defamation trial at the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Fairfax, Virginia, April 28, 2022.MICHAEL REYNOLDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Johnny Depp suffered a downfall amid his defamation trial against Amber Heard.
While Depp is seemingly winning his case against Heard, a judge halted the celebration for now by denying his motion to dismiss the actress's $100 million countersuit.
On Tuesday, both parties brawled inside the courtroom after Heard's team rested their defense. Depp's lawyers then asked judge Penney Azcarate to dismiss the countersuit in which the actress claimed that Depp and his legal team defamed her by saying that her abuse allegations were a hoax.
The counterclaim focuses on the statements Depp's attorney, Adam Waldman, made to the Daily Mail in 2020. At that time, he accused Heard and her friends of fabricating the abuse claims.
"He did believe, and will to his dying day, that Ms. Heard's abuse claims were patently false. There's no evidence that Mr. Depp even saw the statements by Mr. Waldman until he was sued," Depp's attorney, Benjamin Chew, said.
Meanwhile, Heard's attorney, Ben Rottenborn, said that there is no basis to grant a motion to deny the claims. He added that the "Aquaman" star did not create a hoax, nor did she ever perpetrate a hoax.
Judge Penney Azcarate Denies Johnny Depp's Motion to Dismiss the Counterclaim
Following the exchange, Azcarate dismissed the motion and said that the jury should decide the outcome.
"Consequently, there is more than a scintilla of evidence that a reasonable juror may infer Mr. Waldman made the counterclaim statements while realizing they were false or with a reckless disregard for their truth. It is not my role to measure the veracity or weight of the evidence. Actual malice is a question for the fact-finder," she went on, per EW.
It was not the first motion to dismiss that was made, though.
Before the defamation trial started, Heard also tried to have the Fairfax County Circuit Court dismiss Depp's defamation case against her.
The same judge also issued a disapproval notice, preventing the actress' lawyers from petitioning the Virginia Supreme Court to join the legal issues and help her dismiss the case.
Heard's lawyers ultimately wanted the high court to discuss whether the case law supports combining the findings of the UK court about Depp allegedly abused her on several occasions. However, the Judge just refused the attempt to dismiss Depp's counterattack.
In her 10-page opinion, the judge said the defamation claim in the UK and the Virginia case have completely different statements.
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