(28 Jul 2020) MEDIA LAWYER: DEPP'S LIBAL CASE IS 'THE BIGGEST GAMBLE HE'S EVER TAKEN'
Johnny Depp's libel case against a British tabloid that accused him of abusing ex-wife Amber Heard was wrapping up Tuesday (28 July 2020) with the star's lawyer insisting Depp had never hit a woman and branding Heard "a compulsive liar."
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star is suing News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and the newspaper's executive editor, Dan Wootton, at the High Court in London over an April 2018 article that called him a "wife-beater."
In closing arguments at the three-week trial, Depp's lawyer, David Sherborne, said the actor strongly denied "this reputation-destroying, career-ending allegation."
"He has never hit a woman in his entire life -- period, full stop, nada," Sherborne said.
Judge Andrew Nicol will retire later to consider his verdict. He is expected to hand down his ruling in several weeks.
Neither Depp nor Heard is on trial, though it has been easy to forget that during a case that dissected their toxic celebrity love affair.
Depp is the claimant in the civil case, NGN and Wootton are the defendants and Heard is their main witness. To defeat Depp's libel claim, the newspaper must persuade the judge that, on the balance of probabilities, its story was accurate.
Speaking on the closing day of the trial, media lawyer Mark Stephens outlined how a verdict will be reached:
"The newspaper has to show on the balance of probabilities that Johnny Depp was a wife beater. And they've they have to show that he did it more than once, so twice or more. And they've set out details of 14 occasions on which they say Johnny Depp abused Amber Heard. So they've got to win two of 14 in order to be declared the victors in this court case," he explained. Stephens is a media lawyer at the firm Howard Kennedy.
The two sides agree that the relationship between Depp and Heard, which began after they met on the set of 2011 comedy "The Rum Diary," soured long before they divorced in 2017. Texts, emails and recordings attest to the increasingly bitter relations between Depp, now 57, and the 34-year-old model and actress.
But they disagree completely over who started and escalated their fights.
"The judge will have difficulty navigating his way through understanding who's telling the truth. And many of the situations like this, although there's a fact… flat conflict of evidence, the parties very often believe the truth in what they're saying. And so he's got to in some way winnow out of these facts. The objective truth. And that's going to also have a problem because he's got to find somebody is not a witness of truth or somebody is grossly mistaken about how they recall and their perception of what occurred," said Stephens.
The trial has provided an up-close and often unflattering look at Hollywood stardom, revealing details of Depp's life of wealth, luxury, emotional turmoil and substance abuse.
British libel law is widely considered to favor claimants over defendants, but Depp could end up a loser even if he wins.
"It almost beggars belief that anyone rational has taken this case to court. Now, I know that many people say it's all about vindication, it's all about proving he's not a wife beater. But the stakes are very, very high for everybody. And at some level, mud sticks. So even if he is vindicated or if he's not able to completely vindicate himself in relation to all 14 events, then he's still going to lose. And that is, I think, the biggest gamble that he's ever taken," added Stephens.

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