16 h, mar 27, 2020 y - Depp v Heard Judge Opinion Letter Response to Amber Heard's Demurrer and non-evidentiary Plea in Bar SECOND ATTEMPTED DISMISSAL OF CASE DENIED

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SECOND ATTEMPTED DISMISSAL OF CASE: DENIED

On 20 December 2019 Amber Heard filed a Demurer and Plea in Bar questioning the validity of Johnny Depp’s defamation case - were the statements cited in Mr Depp’s original complaint actionable under Virginia Defamation Law. Amber Heard argued there was no case to be answered and requested dismissal of the case (for the second time).

The full response with reasoning and legal arguments of Chief Judge Bruce White are contained in his Opinion Letter attached herewith.

Of the four specific statements from the Washington Post OP-ED that Johnny Depp cited in his original filing, one was now rejected as basis for defamation:

- I write this as a woman who had to change my phone number weekly because I was getting death threats. For months, I rarely left my apartment, and when I did, I was pursued by camera drones and photographers on foot, on motorcycles and in cars. Tabloid outlets that posted pictures of me spun them in a negative light. I felt as though I was on trial in the court of public opinion—and my life and livelihood depended on myriad judgments far beyond my control.

Three statements survived to be actionable in Johnny Depp’s Virginia Defamation Case:

1. Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence—and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change
2. Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out.
3. I had the rare vantage point of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.

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