The jury has reached a verdict in the defamation trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

The court in Fairfax, Virginia, issued an alert on Wednesday afternoon announcing the verdict would be read in court at 3pm after roughly 12 hours of deliberation.

WARNING: This article contains allegations of physical and sexual violence that some readers may find distressing.

Amber Heard spent several days on the witness stand in the defamation trial brought against her by ex-husband Johnny Depp, telling jurors of the abuse she claims to have suffered at his hands.

She began on 4 May by providing background how they met and they fell in love, before sharing several allegations of physical abuse and sexual assault across three more days on the stand.

Here’s what we learned from Ms Heard’s testimony:

Johnny Depp gave nearly four days of testimony in his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard, seeking to convince the jury that he did not abuse her and was in fact a victim of her abuse.

Mr Depp first took the stand on Tuesday 19 April, then kept testifying every day up until the end of Thursday 21 April. Proceedings paused on Friday 22 April, then over the weekend, and picked up again on 25 April with continued testimony from Mr Depp. He then returned to the stand for his rebuttal on 25 May.

Here is what we learned during his time as a witness:

Johnny Depp’s lawyers pleaded with jurors to “give him his life back” after it was “ruined” by Amber Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse, as closing arguments got underway on Friday (27 May).

Mr Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez told the jury that the evidence had shown Ms Heard was the “abuser” and Mr Depp was the “abused” during their tumultuous relationship, saying that both Mr Depp’s “good name” and his “life” are at stake as they reach their verdict.

Rachel Sharp reports:

Amber Heard’s attorney told jurors that ruling in favour of Johnny Depp would make them an “accomplice” to his abuse and “campaign of global humiliation”, as the case neared a dramatic close on Friday (27 May).

Attorney Benjamin Rottenborn delivered closing statements to the court in Fairfax, Virginia, where he warned that Mr Depp’s argument that he was not abusive to Ms Heard sends a “message” to survivors of domestic abuse everywhere.

Rachel Sharp reports:

A car decorated as a ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean films drove past the courthouse where a jury was deliberating the verdict in Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard on Tuesday (31 May).

Holly Patrick reports:

The explosive defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has unfolded well outside their normal Hollywood orbit – at a court in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Mr Depp’s suit against his ex-wife alleges that she defamed him in a December 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.

The trial is taking place in Fairfax because the online edition of The Post is published via servers in the county, allowing Mr Depp to sue her in that area.

Gustaf Kilander reports:

A jury of seven people has been assembled for this case.

According to Court TV, the jurors include five men and two women, with two alternate jurors remaining on standby if one of the main pool is dismissed or needs to drop out.

Speaking to The Washington Post, Jamie R. Abrams, a University of Louisville law professor, said of the jurors: “One challenge that they are likely facing is staying focused on the case at hand without allowing all of their own lived experiences and biases to lead them to a snap judgment that is not supported by the testimony.

“The jury instructions are very concrete in helping jurors do that focusing as a legal matter, but this is a real challenge on a human level.”

Fans of the estranged couple have exhaustively documented the plaintiff and defendant’s every move and mannerism in court, their attorneys’ arguments, the judge’s interventions, and a wealth of colourful witness testimony on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, carving up what might have amounted to dry legal proceedings into a spectator sport.

All of which has raised disapproving eyebrows in some quarters, with concerns expressed that the real issue at the heart of the case, domestic violence, is being lost in what has become a bad taste viral soap opera.

While those criticisms are more than valid, there is no question that the trial has provided an extraordinary spectacle and a cast of unforgettable supporting characters who have found themselves unlikely cult celebrities.

Joe Sommerlad reports: