Jury in Johnny Depp trial zeroes in on Amber Heard's op-ed with their first question to the judge

• The jury in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial reached a second day of deliberations on Tuesday.
• The jury submitted a question to the judge about one of Heard's allegedly defamatory statements.

The jury in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial expressed confusion on Tuesday about how they were supposed to decide whether Heard defamed Depp.

The jury embarked on a second day of deliberations on Tuesday, after six weeks of testimony in the defamation case.

Depp initially sued Heard for $50 million, saying his ex-wife ruined his career by insinuating in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that she had been the victim of domestic violence. When Depp took the stand during the trial, he claimed Heard was the real abuser in their relationship.

Heard countersued for $100 million, and spent several days on the stand describing multiple incidents in which she said she was physically and sexually abused by Depp.

On Tuesday, the jury submitted a question for the judge about the verdict sheet they were asked to fill out as they weigh the competing lawsuits filed by Depp and Heard.

Their question centered on the first of three statements from Heard's op-ed that Depp sued her over. The statement is the headline of the article, "Amber Heard: I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change."

On the verdict sheet, the jury is asked whether they believe the statement is false, which is a key component in proving defamation. If they believe the statement to be true, then it can't be defamatory.

The jury was confused as to whether they were being asked if just the headline was false, or if the entire op-ed was false.

"Does question three, the statement is false, pertain to the headline or does it pertain to the content of the statement, everything written in the op-ed?" the jury asked. Judge Penney Azcarate read the jury's question to each side's lawyers.

Azcarate wrote back to the jury that they should just consider whether the headline is false, not whether the entire op-ed is false.

Heard is being sued over two more statements from the op-ed, while Heard's countersuit of Depp focuses on three statements Depp's attorney, Adam Waldman, made to the The Daily Mail in 2020, accusing Heard of making up the domestic-violence claims.