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After Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard's defamation trial entered the deliberation stage for the jurors, legions of supporters took to social media platforms to express their hope for Depp to win the case. Meanwhile, multiple experts also voiced their opinion on how Depp had support from his fans.
Since then, several lawtubers like former Los Angeles-based Deputy District Attorney and lawyer Emily D. Baker and Christopher C. Melcher have predicted how the trial might end. As the trial proceeded with the jury deliberations, Texas-based civil attorney Katherine Lizardo told The New York post how Depp had already won in the court of public opinion.
The crux of Johnny Depp's lawsuit against Amber Heard stemmed from the actress' 2018 op-ed on The Washington Post, where she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Depp's legal team alleged that the article was defamatory and negatively affected the actor's career. In the trial and especially in the closing arguments, they claimed that Heard made false allegations against the actor in the op-ed and throughout the trial.
With Depp's massive following on social media, the majority of the online chatter about the trial has scrutinized Heard and hailed the 58-year-old actor as the innocent plaintiff.
What did the experts say about the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial?
The court of public opinion refers to the sway of public perception about a legal case through media reportage about the two parties involved in the case. To win in the court of public opinion refers to a person involved in the case gaining majority support from the public.
Civil Attorney Katherine Lizardo referred to this in her statement to The New York Post and said:
"When [Johnny Depp] stepped off the stand, I think he already won based on his definition of winning. Because he already obtained the favor of the court of public opinion … once he told his story."
Similarly, Walzer Melcher and Yoda LLP partner Christopher C. Melcher appeared on the May 27 episode of The Ben Shapiro Show to speak about the ongoing trial. Melcher echoed Lizardo's opinion about Depp already winning the case in the court of public opinion.
Since the trial went into the stage of deliberations from the jury, a video of Johnny Depp embracing his legal team and expressing his gratitude has gone viral. Similarly, another video of the actor leaving the courthouse and shaking the hands of his supporters while greeting them has also gone viral, with a massive influx of praise for Depp in the comments section of the videos.
Melcher said:
"We are going to hear from this jury but I don't know if it even matters to Johnny at this point. Because he's already won in the court of public opinion…there is tremendous interest in the story and it's almost universally positive to Johnny and negative to Amber. So, I think, he gets his career back on track, just fine, no matter what happens."
Meanwhile, another legal YouTube star Emily D. Baker voiced her opinion about the upcoming verdict and predicted the possibilities of who would win the trial. In her live reaction to the closing arguments, Baker explained how the jury might decide that both the parties are not liable for the defamation case.
Baker further added that the jury might also vote that either Johnny Depp or Amber Heard was defamed by the other party involved in the lawsuit.
In the YouTube live, she said:
"I do not see a path to both sides winning on the defamation…I don't think both can win, both can lose."
According to the instructions to the jury provided by the Virginia-based Fairfax County Courthouse, the jury would need to determine whether Amber Heard deliberately wrote a defamatory op-ed about Johnny Depp.
The jurors would need to determine whether the op-ed was about Johnny Depp and whether "defamatory implications" had false allegations against Depp. Furthermore, the jurors would also decide if the implications were "designed and intended" by Heard.
