Amber Heard’s request for new Johnny Depp trial denied: Judge declared no jury fraud
The actress is expected to file an appeal after the judgment becomes final, following the $10 million in compensatory damages.
It seems the legal battle between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp will not be continuing, now that a Virginia judge has denied Heard’s request for a mistrial in her defamation suit with the actor.
Loading the player...
The judge declared that there was no grounds to overturn the jury’s verdict in Depp’s favor, after the actress was asked for total damages of almost $10.4 million.
The request comes after it was discovered that one of the seven jurors in the trial did not receive a summons, and instead the jury summons was sent to an individual 25 years older than the first juror who was supposed to be at court.
The voter information registration also said that the person listed was born in 1945 and lived at the same address as the 52-year-old person in court.
“Defendant does not allege Juror Fifteen’s inclusion on the jury prejudiced her in any way,” the judge stated, detailing that there was no fraud or evidence that the juror situation biased the trial in any way.
“The individual who appeared for jury duty with this name was obviously the younger one,” Amber’s legal team detailed. “Thus, the 52-year-old...sitting on the jury for six weeks was never summoned for jury duty on April 11.”
“The juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated and reached a verdict. The only evidence before this Court is that this juror and all jurors followed their oaths, the Court’s instructions and orders. This court is bound by the competent decision of the jury,” the judge concluded.
And while it seems like this is the end of the legal battle, the actress is expected to file an appeal after the judgment becomes final, following the $10 million in compensatory damages.
