Johnny Depp’s win against Amber Heard of multi-millions is being challenged once more after Heard’s legal teams filed paperwork Friday asking for a mistrial. They claim that the wrong juror was seated during the long defamation trial.
A five-page document was filed in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Virginia. It states that Juror No. 15 “was not summoned to jury duty on April 11, 2022.”
Heard’s lawyers wrote that Juror No. 1 was 52 years old when the trial began. 15 was 52. According to court documents, both parties share the same last name.
The Court states that “it is deeply troubling for an individuals not summoned to jury duty nevertheless to appear for jury duty, especially in case like this.”
Heard’s legal team claimed that Heard’s “due process had been compromised” and that “a mistrial should have been declared and a new trial should be ordered.”
Depp was awarded $10.4 million by a jury after a six-week-long televised trial. The actress from “Pirates of the Caribbean”, sued his wife over an opinion-editorial essay written by Heard for The Washington Post in 2018. In it, she called herself a “public figure representing domestic violence.” Depp’s lawyers claimed that the essay defamed him even though it didn’t mention him by name.
In her counterclaim against Depp, Heard was also awarded $2 million. The jury concluded that Heard had been defamed in the words of one of Depp’s lawyers. Heard claimed that she created a hoax that involved robbing the couple of their apartment so that it looked worse for police.
Heard’s legal team brought up the jury issue in post-trial motions. They claimed that a juror had not been properly vetted. They also requested that the court throw out the verdict because it was not supported with evidence.
Heard’s attorneys argued that Depp had to prove that she didn’t believe she was abused in the post-trial motions.
Heard’s lawyers stated in their motion that “Instead, evidence overwhelmingly supported Ms. Heard believed that she was the victim abuse at the hands Mr. Depp.”
