Amber Heard claimed that one of the jurors she was summoned to the jury was not the one she was found guilty of defaming Johnny Depp. This was weeks after her conviction. Heard’s legal team claimed that Heard was wrongly included as a juror and requested that the judge declare a mistrial.
Friday’s filing contains more details about the claim Heard’s lawyers made last week when they asked the judge to overturn the verdict. Her team requested the judge to investigate “potentially improper juror service.” The Associated Press reported that the lawyer for Heard had asked the judge to look into the matter. According to documents provided to lawyers before jury selection, the person was listed in 1945. However, public information revealed that the juror who attended the trial was born in 1970.
Heard’s legal team filed a new document Friday that provided new details about the incident. According to the document, a 77-year old was randomly chosen for jury duty. Instead, a 52 year-old with the same lastname, who apparently lives at the exact same address, came to court and served as a juror during the trial. The document did not include their names.
The document didn’t explain why it allegedly happened or how it was discovered.
According to Fairfax County lawyers, there are multiple measures in place to ensure that the person summoned to jury duty actually shows up. The document says that these measures failed to catch the fact that someone was not present at the trial.
The document stated that “these safeguards are in effect and relied on by the parties to verify and confirm the identity of each juror, to ensure due procedure and a fair trial to all litigants.” These safeguards can be abused or ignored, as is the case in this instance, and the right to a jury trial, and due process, are compromised.
The AP reported that lawyers for Heard also suggested last week that Judge Heard should withdraw the verdict. They said the amount Depp was awarded — $10 million in compensatory damages, $5 million in punitive damages — was excessive and indefensible.
In June, the jury ruled that Heard had defamed Depp in a Washington Post 2018 op-ed. Depp was also liable for Depp’s attorney calling Depp’s claims a hoax during a statement to Daily Mail. Depp was awarded $15million, though he was unable to collect $10.35m due to state limitations on punitive damages. Heard was also awarded $2 million.
