賠償金１３億円「絶対支払えない」　デップさんに敗訴のハードさん

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米俳優ジョニー・デップさんが元妻の米女優アンバー・ハードさんを名誉毀損（きそん）で訴え勝訴した裁判で、ハードさんの代理人弁護士は２日、陪審から命じられた１０３５万ドル（約１３億４０００万円）の賠償金支払いは不可能だと語った。（写真はアンバー・ハードさん）
　長期間にわたり続き、テレビ中継された法廷闘争は１日に幕を閉じた。男性５人と女性２人からなる陪審は、デップさんのドメスティックバイオレンス（ＤＶ）疑惑をめぐり両者が互いの名誉を毀損したと認定したものの、デップさん側の主張を強く支持する評決を下した。
　ハードさんは、１０００万ドル（約１３億円）の補償的損害賠償と５００万ドル（約６億５０００万円）の懲罰的損害賠償の支払いを命じられた。だが裁判が開かれたバージニア州の法律では、懲罰的損害賠償の上限は３５万ドル（約４５００万円）とされているため、実際の賠償額は１０３５万ドルとなる。
　一方、デップさんが支払いを命じられた額は２００万ドル（約２億６０００万円）にとどまった。
　ハードさんの代理人弁護士は、米ＮＢＣテレビの番組「トゥデー」で、ハードさんが賠償金を支払えるのかと問われ、「絶対に支払えない」と返答。ハードさんは評決を不服として控訴する意向だとした。
　デップさんは２０２０年、自身を「ワイフビーター（妻虐待者）」と呼んだ英大衆紙サンを相手取り起こした名誉毀損裁判で敗訴していた。今回の評決について、自身の勝利と受け止め歓迎。一方のハードさんは「悲嘆に暮れている」とコメントしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/06/03-13:32）

Actress Amber Heard is unable to pay her ex-husband Johnny Depp more than $10 million in damages, her lawyer said Thursday, after a US jury took the side of the Pirates of the Caribbean star in a bitter defamation trial.
The lengthy, high-profile televised court battle ended Wednesday, when a seven-person jury found that Depp and Heard had defamed each other, but weighed in far more strongly with Depp.
The jury awarded him $10.35 million in damages, in contrast with $2 million awarded to Heard.
Asked on NBC's TODAY show if Heard will be able to pay up, her attorney Elaine Bredehoft answered: Oh no, absolutely not.
She added that Heard wants to appeal the verdict.
The 58-year-old Depp, who lost a libel case against The Sun tabloid in London in 2020 for calling him a wife-beater, celebrated the split verdict in the case as a victory while Heard said she was heart-broken.
Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse.
The Texas-born Heard, who had a starring role in Aquaman, did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and sought $50 million in damages.
The 36-year-old Heard countersued for $100 million, saying she was defamed by statements made by Depp's lawyer, Adam Waldman, who told the Daily Mail her abuse claims were a hoax.
Bredehoft said Depp's legal team worked to demonize Heard and suppressed crucial evidence in the trial, preventing the jurors from examining evidence of Depp's alleged abuse.
A number of things were allowed in this court that should not have been allowed, and it caused the jury to be confused, she said.
The lawyer said the ruling bodes ill for the MeToo movement and will discourage women from reporting sexual harassment and abuse.
It's a horrible message, Bredehoft said. It's a significant setback, because that's exactly what it means.
Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively you won't be believed.
For his part, Depp welcomed the verdict, saying The jury gave me my life back.
The best is yet to come and a new chapter has finally begun, Depp said in a statement.