The bombshell trial of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has finally come to an end, with Heard, who accused the Pirates of the Caribbean star of domestic violence, being awarded $7 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages. The trial has been quite dramatic, with one juror revealing that they believe Heard was lying about what happened but still awarding her money because they felt sorry for her.
A male juror in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial spoke to Good Morning America Thursday about the jury’s decision to find Heard defaming Depp, telling GMA that jurors did not find all photo evidence of Heard’s alleged physical injuries to be authentic, that they were struck by Heard’s failure to complete her pledge to donate all $7 million from her divorce settlement to two charities, and that they didn’t think she behaved in the relationship in ways that suggest she was being abused. The juror also noted the jury made their ruling in part because they did not find Heard’s demeanor believable.
“It seemed like she was able to flip the switch on her emotions. She would answer one question and she would be crying and two seconds later she would turn ice cold. It didn’t seem natural,” the juror said.
Experts on trauma, domestic violence, and sexual assault often disagree with preconceived notions about what constitutes credible victim behavior. They note that most people are influenced by misinformation that they see or hear, which often gives a skewed view of what is and isn’t credible victim behavior. The vast majority of survivors choose not to come forward for fear of what society will think of them.
“These judgments of how ‘real victims’ react or respond to abuse and trauma are often very limited – a victim could be easily discounted for being too emotional or not emotional enough, too calm or too upset. What we need to remember is that the process of talking about their experiences of trauma, especially for victims testifying in court, is often very re-traumatizing,” National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s communications director, Laura Palumbo.
“There is no one right way to react or respond when having to retell your experiences of abuse, and the pressure victims face knowing they are being judged, blamed, or not believed only makes the process more difficult,” she added.
There are over a million people in the US alone who experience intimate partner violence every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One in four women and nearly one in ten men experience some form of intimate partner violence. All across the nation, a staggering 81% of women and 43% of men report some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
From the National Crime Victimization Survey, only about half of all domestic violence incidents are reported to law enforcement. Roughly a third of rapes are reported. Experts suggest that this fear of not being believed is a primary reason why survivors of sexual and domestic violence do not report their abuse. With Black survivors already being seen as less credible, they are less likely to report as well.
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