The judge and court staff, who testified six weeks in the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, received a standing ovation when the jury finally began discussing the case.
The Fairfax County Courthouse, Virginia, witnessed a rare moment of carelessness – and an agreement between the legal teams for the ex-spouses – on Friday afternoon when they showed their gratitude to Judge Penny Azkarate.
After sending the jury to discuss the multimillion-dollar case, Judge Azkarate thanked Mr Depp and Ms Hurd’s lawyers for their “professionalism” and all the court staff for their work during the high-ranking trial.
“I just want to thank all of you for your professionalism and hard work during this event,” she said.
“It’s much easier to be a judge when you have excellent lawyers in front of you, it makes it easier.
“And I also want to thank the lawyers and the parties for the kindness and the great behavior you showed to my staff.
“I really appreciate both the court staff and the sheriff’s deputies. This means a lot for me.”
She added about the court stenographer: “I also appreciate Judy because she is a rock star.
The courtroom burst out laughing at this last comment, and people began to applaud, to which Judge Azcarate smiled, “Well, this is the first time.”
Ms. Hurd’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, then responded by thanking the judge for her work on the case.
Moments later, the court burst into laughter again when Mr. Depp Ben Chu’s lawyer agreed with Ms. Bredehoft, but accidentally slipped after six weeks of disagreement with Ms. Hurd’s team.
“This is one thing that Miss Bredehoft and I respectfully disagree with, we totally agree with!” He said.
As the courtroom laughed, the judge joked, “Okay. I am glad that on the last day we finally reached an agreement. “
A seven-judge jury will now decide the case between the two spouses after hearing a series of explosive allegations and allegations since the April 11 trial.
Mr Depp is suing his ex-wife for defamation in a 2018 publication she wrote for The Washington Post, in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic violence”.
The Pirates of the Caribbean actor is not mentioned in the article entitled “I spoke out against sexual violence – and I faced the wrath of our culture.” That needs to change. “
However, Mr Depp claims that this wrongly suggests that he is a domestic abuser – something he categorically denies – and that this makes him struggle to get roles in Hollywood. He is suing for $ 50 million (£ 40 million).
Ms. Hurd is suing for $ 100 million (£ 79 million), accusing Depp of organizing a “defamation campaign” against her and describing his case as a continuation of “abuse and harassment”.
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