Johnny Depp Trial: After Verdict Is Read, Normalcy Begins To Return

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Two hours after the verdict in the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial was announced, the grounds outside the Fairfax County Courthouse had the aura of a field where a circus had just packed up its tent and moved on.

Television news crews from around the world were wheeling boxes to their news vans, preparing for a last live shot, or lounging under awnings waiting for someone to tell them it was time to go home.

Most of the spectators had left, but a few were still hanging about, answering questions from the handful of reporters scrounging for photos and quotes.

Sydney Porter had made the trip to Fairfax Courthouse from Prince George's County, Maryland, three times over the last week to show her support for Amber Heard.

"Mostly, I wanted to come because I know that she didn't really have much support out here," she said. "I think when I came, there had only ever been like three other people. I just wanted to show that there's other people out there that support her."

Porter unfurled a banner with the message, "We Stand With Amber Heard," surrounded by signatures and messages of support for the "Justice League" actress.

"I was just following a bunch of other supporters on Twitter and then I saw that they needed someone to come and hold the banner," she said. "Since I live in the area, I had been wanting to come anyway, and I figured that was like my clarion call to come out."

Related: Johnny Depp Wins Defamation Suit, Amber Heard Also Awarded Damages

Porter was disappointed but not surprised by Wednesday's verdict, in which Depp won all three of his defamation claims against his ex-wife and was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages.

The seven-member jury also awarded $2 million in compensatory damages to Heard after supporting two of her three defamation claims against Depp.

"I was not a fan of Amber Heard before, but I knew of her because she's bisexual and I am on the bi-spectrum, so that was one reason, " Porter said about why she supported Heard. "With today being the first day of Pride Month, I wanted to be out here and show the intersectional areas of where this case hits, because I do think that there was a bit of bi-phobia in the way that he treated her."

Hearing that the jury was going to return a verdict at 3 p.m., Dusty M. Shenofsky, founder of Cherry Blossom Laser Studio in nearby Victorian Square, ran down to the courthouse. She didn't even have time to change out of her work scrubs.

During the six-week trial, Shenofsky had actually spent 15 days in the courtroom as a spectator.

Each morning at 7:30 a.m., the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office handed out a limited number of wristbands that allowed the wearer into the courtroom for that day.

At first, people began lining up around 4:30 a.m. to get wristbands. By the sixth week, Shenofsky would leave the courthouse at the end of one day, turn around, and join the next day's line.

"I have been a longtime Johnny Depp fan, but for me the whole case resonated for me as a victim myself, as a fellow victim, specifically of this kind of abuse," she said. "I wanted to be here to support Johnny in person, and also, I really wanted to be here to support him and also as kind of a cathartic experience. It was good for me."

Shenofsky hoped that Heard would get the help she needs and that Depp would be able to heal, move forward, and regain his reputation.

"The other takeaway that I have from this is that whether or not you believe in Amber or whether you believe Johnny, or whether or not you believe one of them has lied, if you are a victim, you need to speak up and you need to be heard and you need to get help," she said.

Dan Jawish, who lives close to Fairfax City Hall, said that it was cool having a trial like this practically in his back yard.

"I haven't been here every day, but just the fact that it's right here and you don't have Johnny Depp here every day, I try to take advantage of it as best I could and come out here when I was able to," he said.

When Jawish heard the verdict was coming, he hoofed it on over to the courthouse to see Depp's legal team leave.

"I've loved Johnny Depp as an actor since I was a little kid, so I'm pro-Depp," he said. "But, I'll be the first one to admit that [neither] him nor Amber are perfect, especially with some of the text messages and evidence that was read off in court. ... The whole abuse part really opened up and gave everyone a much better idea of how toxic the relationship actually was."

Former George Mason University student Diana Merlo drove up to Fairfax City from Hampton, Virginia, to see her mother. But they came over to the courthouse when they heard the verdict was going to be read.

Although Merlo hadn't been following the case closely, she felt good about how the verdict came out.

"I felt like Miss Heard, she wasn't being honest from the get-go," she said. "And I always felt like Johnny Depp, I can just empathize with him. I felt like he had no reason to lie about it."