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Topics: News, Amber Heard, Johnny Depp
Gabriella Ferlita
Amber Heard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft has confirmed that Heard cannot pay out following the loss to Johnny Depp.
In an interview with Savannah Guthrie, the legal expert has said that Amber Heard is unable to pay the $10.4 million verdict to Depp.
Yesterday evening, in what appears to have been the most high profile court case of recent times, Heard was found to have defamed the Pirates of the Caribbean actor in the Washington Post op-ed, with Depp being awarded $15 million by the jury.
Depp was awarded compensatory damages of $10 million (£8 million) and a further five million dollars (£4 million) in punitive damages.
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Elsewhere, in a separate counterclaim, Heard was awarded two million dollars (£1.6 million) in damages after her counterclaim against Depp over comments made by his lawyer Adam Waldman, who allegedly referred to her abuse claims as a 'hoax'. The comments were found to be defamatory.
In the interview on TODAY, presenter Savannah asked Elaine: "Is she able to pay the $10.4 million payout?", to which the lawyer responded: "Oh no, absolutely not."
She continued the interview by saying: "It's a horrible message... this is a setback," she told the TODAY co-anchor. "Unless you pull out your phone and videotape your spouse beating you, you won't be believed."
However, after losing the case, Heard's lawyer has confirmed on the show that she now plans to appeal the decision.
"She has some excellent grounds for it. We even tried to get the UK judgement in to dismiss his [Depp's] case because he already had his shot, and that's one of the issues, but [there were] also a number of evidentiary issues.
"There was so much evidence that did not come in."
Although it has not yet been confirmed on what grounds Heard will base her appeal on for certain, her lawyer suggests that there may have been errors in the trial and that there was evidence which was not considered during the trial.
An appeal could also be based on issues with the presiding judge's reading of the law, or if new evidence or testimony emerged following the conclusion of the initial trial.
If Heard later decides not to appeal the verdict, she would still have to post a bond for the full $10.35 million (£8.25 million) payout, which also includes interest.
However, if Heard is unable to pay the huge amount in legal fees, the court could opt to take a sum of her wages.
If Heard were to drop the appeal, there is a risk the court could take part of her current and future wages.
Elsewhere, the actor could file for bankruptcy, erasing the $8 million (£6.3 million) compensatory damages which she owes to Depp.