2023-05-15 22:33:25
The trial in Britain was not a criminal trial but a libel trial. It ruled that the words the Sun used were, on the balance of probabilities, "more likely than not" to be true. Depp was not sentenced a "wife beater" but the Sun was allowed to call him one. Articles 41 to 44. [Link] NEEDS_MORE_RATINGS(6-0-1) Author
2023-05-18 11:07:45
Neither case, in Virginia or England, were criminal cases and both were civil cases in defamation. The "balance of probabilities" standard of proof used by the English courts is the same test as the "preponderance of the evidence" used in the American courts. NEEDS_MORE_RATINGS(0-1-0) Author
2023-05-18 16:56:13
By UK law, The Sun (and the poster of the tweet) can legitimately call Depp a wife-beater, given the outcome of the civil case. NNN The burden of proof is on the defendant in defamation cases, so The Sun was presumed guilty and had to prove otherwise. [Link] NEEDS_MORE_RATINGS(0-0-0) Author