While reports say that Johnny Depp has been awarded $15 million, Amber Heard doesn’t have to cough up that full amount. Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Joshua Ritter, a partner with Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP and a former Los Angeles County prosecutor, exclusively told Nicki Swift that the monetary elements of the verdict are much more complicated than what outlets let on, despite the rather cut and dry conclusion that Heard owes Depp some serious cash.
“The jury awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Virginia has a statutory limit on punitive damages at $350,000,” he prefaced. “If everything stands as is, Depp will get the $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages, but $2 million of that is going back to Amber Heard. I don’t think anyone is writing checks anytime soon.”
Heard — who has an estimated net worth of about $8 million as of publication — will have to pay Depp a figure over $10 million, but even that is tricky, according to other legal experts.