Troubled Hollywood actress Amber Heard has reportedly now hired two new lawyers as she seeks to appeal her ex-husband Johnny Depp’s defamation trial verdict.
The move was confirmed on Monday by a spokesperson for the 36-year-old actress who announced that the actress has hired David L. Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown of Ballard Spahr to lead, with Ben Rottenborn continuing as co-counsel.
However, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, who represented Heard in the six-week Fairfax County, Virginia, trial earlier this year is stepping down.
“When it comes to protecting the fundamental right of Freedom of Speech, we look at the jury’s decision — to paraphrase a famous quote — not ‘as the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.’ A different court warrants different representation, particularly as so much new evidence is now coming to light,” a spokesperson for Heard said in a statement.
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Said Bredehoft, “This is the perfect time to pass the baton. I have pledged to Amber and her appellate team my complete cooperation and assistance as they move forward on a path towards success.”
This comes weeks after Amber Heard was denied a retrial request in which she claimed one of the jurors in the case had come to court when it was actually his father who received the jury summons.
A spokesperson for Amber Heard tells TMZ: “We believe the court made errors that prevented a just and fair verdict consistent with the First Amendment. We are therefore appealing the verdict. While we realize today’s filing will ignite the Twitter bonfires, there are steps we need to take to ensure both fairness and justice.”
