Ryan Baker Quoted by BBC.com on Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Verdict

Partner Ryan Baker, quoted by BBC.com about the June 1, 2022 verdict in the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation case, said for the Virginia jury to award Depp $15 million ($10 million compensatory damages, as well as $5 million in punitive damages) it “had to discredit Heard’s testimony almost in its entirety.”

Heard spent days as a witness detailing the abuse she claimed to have suffered from Depp, but Baker said, “perhaps she went too far.” A key factor was that much of Heard’s testimony was contradicted by other witnesses, who, Baker said, “the jury may have found more credible due to their perceived neutrality … In a case of his word against hers, the testimony of corroborating witnesses(including experts) is often influential.”