UNITED STATES: Upon winning his defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp was ordered by a Manhattan judge to pay the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) $38,000 in damages for the use of the ACLU’s evidence.
In order to comply with a subpoena, the nonprofit ACLU requested $86,000 in legal expenses; but, after Depp’s attorneys filed a motion, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron decided they should only receive less than half of that amount.
The $86,000 was claimed to be for “substantial money spent responding to onerous subpoenas served by Mr. Depp from an underlying lawsuit in which neither the ACLU nor any of its workers are parties,” according to Stephanie Teplin, the ACLU’s attorney.
“Depp asked for thousands of documents over a six-year period as he preared for the defamation trial,” Teplin added.
Jessica Meyers, Depp’s lawyer, called the ACLU’s original demand “exorbitant and unreasonable.”
ACLU’s support to Amber Heard
“They [ACLU] were responsible for drafting and placing the op-ed that the Virginia jury just found to be defamatory to Mr. Depp,” Meyers said.
The ACLU is “pleased that the Court recognised that the ACLU complied with Mr. Depp’s requests and did so at substantial expense,” an ACLU representative stated.
Evidence presented at trial established that the ACLU assisted Heard in writing and publishing the op-ed in The Washington Post.
Despite not receiving the donations Heard had promised, the non-profit group supported her throughout the entire lawsuit.
Heard was mandated to compensate Depp for $8.35 million in losses, but she apparently lacks the funds and intends to file an appeal.
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