Johnny Depp Hit With $38K Fine Despite Defamation Win
In spite of the fact that Johnny Depp has already moved on from the victory he achieved in his defamation lawsuit, it would appear that he has encountered another obstacle connected to the case.
During the six-week bombshell defamation trial that Depp faced off against his ex-wife Amber Heard, he was successful in proving that the actress had liedabout having contributed the $3.5 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This led to Depp's victory in the case
However, he is now under orders to pay the non-profit $38,000 for the time ACLU spent pulling the documents since it was their responsibility to do so.
It was reported on Radar Online that certain staff members turned over 1,900 documents that they claim took a lot of time and effort to pull after being subpoenaed by the lawyers representing the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star. They made themselves available for a deposition after the lawyers asked them to do so.
The outlet was able to receive copies of legal records that said, "The ACLU provided three witnesses, including its Executive Director, for nearly sixteen hours of depositions."
"Along the road, Mr. Depp turned down a number of potential agreements that would have lightened the load and reduced the costs for the ACLU and its staff."
The ACLU first sought that Depp pay them an amount of $86,000 for their time and labor. Despite this, the actor's legal team described it as "exorbitant and unjustified," although the actor did agree to pay them a lesser sum, the exact amount of which has not been established.
In spite of this, the judge has decided that the fee will be reduced to less than half of what the charitable organization had initially requested, which comes to only $38,000.
Johnny Depp filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard after she published an opinion piece in which she described herself as a victim of sexual and domestic violence.
The actor who played "Edward Scissorhands" was of the opinion that Heard's claims damaged both his personal and professional reputations.
After listening to testimony for a total of six exhausting weeks, a jury in Virginia ultimately decided in favor of the actor and ordered the "Aquaman" star to pay him a total of $10.35 million in damages.
After Heard's legal team had another meeting in the courtroom on June 24, the verdict of the court was finally decided.
They stated that in the event that Heard filed an appeal against the verdict, she would be compelled to pay the damages and would also be responsible for paying a penalty interest rate of 6%, which is allegedly equal to $500,000 in total.
The actress's spokeswoman, who talked with Radar, said the following: "If you are innocent, you do not submit a request for a pardon, as was indicated in the hearings that took place in Congress yesterday. Furthermore, if you are confident in your position, you should not refuse to submit an appeal."
