Johnny Depp has asked to have a portion of Amber Heard's closing argument stricken from the record.
The star's lawyers have claimed that asking jurors to consider how their ruling would impact domestic violence victims was an "inappropriate argument" from Heard's attorneys.
Per The Independent, they submitted the filing to Fairfax County District Court on Tuesday, as jurors began their second day of deliberation in the celebrity defamation case.
However, unfortunately for Depp's team, Judge Penney Azcarate said she would not consider their motion. The judge explained that because deliberation is already well underway, it is not possible to instruct the jury to disregard information submitted in a closing argument.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed to be a survivor of domestic abuse. Depp maintains that he was the real victim of his volatile marriage to Heard and that the article wrecked his reputation and his career.
Heard, meanwhile, has doubled down on her allegations and countersued for $100 million, citing several occasions during her relationship with Depp when he was physically abusive. She has also argued that her ex-husband orchestrated a smear campaign against her in the wake of her allegations.
In his closing argument last Friday, Heard's lawyer Ben Rottenborn warned that if jurors ruled in favour of Depp they would be an "accomplice" to his alleged abuse.
"In trying to convince you that Mr Depp has carried his burden of proof in proving that he was never abusive to Amber on even one occasion, think about the message that Mr Depp and his attorneys are sending to Amber and by extension to every victim of domestic abuse everywhere," he said.
"If you didn’t take the picture it didn’t happen. If you did take pictures they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends you’re lying. If you did tell your friends you’re part of the hoax. If you didn’t seek medical treatment you weren’t injured. If you did seek medical attention you’re crazy," the attorney continued.
"That is the message that Mr Depp is asking you to send," he concluded.
In their filing, Depp's lawyers argued that Rottenborn's statements "improperly invite the jury to focus on a larger social objective beyond the [case]."
"Such argument by Ms Heard’s counsel improperly invites the jury to decide the case 'based on passion and prejudice' and a specific jury instruction is necessary to cure this impropriety," the filing adds.