A Manhattan judge ruled Friday that Johnny Depp must pay $ 38,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for the evidence used in the victory of his defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard.
The ACLU, a nonprofit organization, initially asked for $ 86,000 in attorneys’ fees to comply with a subpoena, but Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that they get less than half. after Depp’s lawyers filed a motion.
Stephanie Teplin, the ACLU’s attorney, had argued that the $ 86,000 was for “considerable expenses spent in responding to onerous subpoenas issued by Mr. Depp of an underlying action in which neither the ACLU nor any of its employees are part “, according to Law & Crime. .
Depp asked for thousands of documents over a six-year period while preparing for the defamation trial, according to Teplin.
Jessica Meyers, Depp’s attorney, called the ACLU’s original lawsuit “exorbitant and unreasonable.”
ACLU is with Amber Heard
“They [ACLU] were responsible for drafting and publishing the opinion piece that the Virginia jury just found to be defamatory to Mr. Depp, ”Meyers said.
According to Newsweek, a spokesman for the ACLU said the organization is “happy that the Court recognized that the ACLU complied with Mr Depp’s requests and did so at great cost”.
During the trial, evidence showed that the ACLU helped Heard draft and publish the opinion in The Washington Post.
The nonprofit was on Heard’s side throughout the case despite not getting the donations he had promised.
Heard was ordered to pay Depp $ 8.35 million in damages, although he is said to have no money and plans to appeal.