Johnny Depp heads to Court of Appeal over 'wife-beater' ruling

Johnny Depp is asking the Court of Appeal to overturn Judge Andrew Nicol's ruling that he physically and verbally abused Amber Heard during their marriage.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star made the request after Judge Nicol told the actor to take the matter directly to the Court of Appeal and gave him before Dec. 7 to file his formal request.

According to The Evening Standard, Depp's appeal is on the public list of pending applications. Details as to when he turned in his request and the grounds of his appeal are unknown. Likewise, it is not known when a decision on his application for permission to appeal will be made.

"I do not consider that the proposed grounds of appeal have a reasonable prospect of success," the same judge said in November, after Depp asked that he overturn his ruling.

The "Rum Diary" star filed a libel case against The Sun for an article that labeled him as a "wife-beater." They took the matter to London's High Court but despite overwhelming evidence that proved the contrary, the judge ruled in favour of the publication.

He found the accusations of domestic violence and verbal abuse to be "substantially true." He said Depp caused his ex-wife to "fear for her life."

Judge Nicol ruled that 12 instances of abuse did occur out of the 14 that Heard recalled during the over-week long trial in London. He said the actor falsely characterised the "Aquaman" actress as a "gold-digger" who constructed a hoax as an "insurance policy."

"I do not accept this characterisation of Ms. Heard," he said.

Outside of ordering Depp to file directly to the Court of Appeal for permission to overturn his judgment, the judge also ordered the actor to pay The Sun, under parent company News Group Newspapers (NGN), the amount of almost £630,000 for legal fees.

Depp's legal battle with Heard over allegations of domestic abuse is far from over. They will face each other again in Virginia for his defamation suit. His lawyer is confident that there will be a fair verdict given this time.