Amber Heard’s legal team alleges wrong juror sat in Depp trial, says mistrial should be declared

Amber Heard’s legal team is seeking a mistrial in the defamation lawsuit involving Johnny Depp, alleging a bad juror sat on the jury.

Heard’s legal team filed the case on Friday afternoon, arguing that juror number 15 was not in fact the person who was summoned to court and « could not have served on the jury during that court case ».

According to the filing, the « jury list » included a person whose date of birth was in 1945, meaning the person would have been 77 during the trial. However, a 52-year-old living at the same address as the 77-year-old man was the person who appeared to serve on the jury and served on the jury, according to the filing.

« The person who appeared for juror with that name was obviously the youngest. So the 52-year-old man who served on the jury for six weeks was never called for juror on April 11, » says the case.

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Because of this alleged error, the legal team says Heard’s due process has been « compromised » and a mistrial « should be declared. »

« Ms. Heard’s due process has therefore been compromised. In these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared and a new trial ordered, » the filing reads.

The filing says « safeguards » apparently did not work in this case and the correct identity of the juror was not verified.

Former U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital that the allegation made by Heard’s legal team « is not grounds for a mistrial or reversal of the verdict. »

Rahmani said the confusion of the jurors could have been « an innocent mistake, in which case Heard’s argument will fail ».

« Even if it was intentional, his attorneys will have to prove that the juror’s misconduct would have resulted in a challenge for cause. That means the wrong juror could not have been fair and impartial. That’s a tough hurdle to overcome, » Rahmani said. said.

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Actor Johnny Depp smiles at fans after a break on the final day of his libel trial against Amber Heard in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S. May 27, 2022.
(Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo)

« The Fairfax County Juror’s Questionnaire webpage furthers this goal by requiring all county residents to log in using their 7-digit juror number, zip code, and ‘date of birth.’ … These safeguards are in place and used by the parties to verify the identity of the correct juror, to ensure due process and a fair trial for all litigants,” the filing states.

The new filing comes just a week after Heard’s legal team asked a judge to overturn the $10.35 million judgment in favor of Johnny Depp, arguing it was not supported by evidence. proofs.

« The verdict is excessive in law in light of the evidence and the law, and should be overturned, » they wrote.

The Virginia jury awarded the $10.35 million judgment to Depp on June 1, finding that Heard, his ex-wife, defamed him and caused him to miss business opportunities because of a Washington editorial Post written by her, in which she described herself as a « public figure representing domestic violence ».

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The American Civil Liberties Union helped actress Amber Heard write the editorial at the center of Johnny Depp’s libel lawsuit.
(Michael Reynolds/Pool via Reuters)

Depp claimed there were three defamatory statements made in the editorial, which include the headline calling Heard a survivor of sexual assault.

Heard successfully filed a countersuit against Depp, winning $2 million on a claim alleging that a statement made by Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman, to the media calling the allegations she made a « hoax. » was defamatory.