Johnny Depp claims another victory as court trashes Amber Heard's 'puzzling' countersuit

Johnny Depp and his legal team have reason to celebrate ahead of his court hearing with Amber Heard following news that a judge has tossed her $100 million counterclaim.

According to Deadline, Fairfax County Chief Judge Penney Azcarate was not convinced by the reason behind the counterclaim. In it, the "Rum Diary" actress argued that Depp's two-year-old defamation case should be dismissed on the grounds that he already lost in his libel case against British tabloid The Sun.

The embattled star fought to clear his name as a "wife-beater" in London's High Court late last year. His ex-wife testified against him and cited 14 incidents in which he allegedly physically and verbally abused her during their marriage. Judge Andrew Nicol found the actor guilty of 12 out of the 14 instances.

"The Court is not persuaded by Defendant's argument that Plaintiff had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the UK action. Defendant was not a part in the UK action and was not treated as one," Judge Azcarate wrote in an opinion letter released today.

"Because she was not named a defendant, she was not subject to the same discovery rules applicable to named parties. In fact, Defendant could not have been a named defendant to the UK litigation because her allegedly defamatory statements were made after the UK action commenced," she continued, as she cited the op-ed Heard wrote for the Washington Post in December 2018 that set off Depp's defamation case against her.

Judge Azcarate even called Heard's assertions "puzzling" as she further explained her point, "Defendant argues she was in privity with The Sun because they both had the same interest in the case. However, for privity to exist, Defendant's interest in the case must be so identical with The Sun's interest such that The Sun's representation of its interest is also a representation of Defendant's legal right."

She noted that the "Aquaman" actress' legal interests relate to whether the things she wrote in her op-ed were false. Whereas, The Sun's were based on whether their story about Depp being a domestic abuser was false.

Depp's lawyer Ben Chew has since released a statement in response to Judge Azcarate's dismissal of Heard's counterclaim. He said the actor is "most gratified by the Court's decision." Thus, the hearing will push through in April next year.