Heard attorneys say juror served improperly, search mistrial

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — One among many jurors throughout the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial served improperly, an authorized skilled for Heard alleged in a present submitting that requested the courtroom to declare a mistrial and order a model new trial.

“Newly discovered data” current Juror No. 15 throughout the six-week trial was not the particular person summoned in April to serve throughout the case, Heard’s authorized skilled wrote in a five-page memo filed Friday in Virginia’s Fairfax Circuit Court docket docket.

In its place, the submitting suggests Juror No. 15 was a youthful explicit particular person with the equivalent ultimate determine who “apparently” lives on the equivalent deal with.

“As a result of the Court docket docket little query agrees, it is deeply troubling for an individual not summoned for jury obligation Nonetheless to search for jury obligation and serve on a jury, significantly in a case much like this,” the submitting talked about.

Depp sued his ex-wife over a December 2018 op-ed Heard wrote in The Washington Put up describing herself as “a public decide representing house abuse.” A number of the testimony centered on whether or not or not Heard had been bodily and sexually abused, as she claimed. Depp talked about he not at all hit Heard and that she was the abuser.

After a televised trial that change into a spectacle, the jury current in Depp’s favor on all three of his claims referring to explicit statements throughout the 2018 piece.

The jury decided Depp should acquire $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, nonetheless the resolve lowered the punitive damages award to $350,000 under a state cap.

Heard has beforehand talked about she plans to attraction the choice.

Info of Friday’s submitting was first reported by Deadline, which posted the doc on-line.

The memo expanded upon earlier post-trial motions filed by Heard’s approved crew that requested the resolve to throw out the choice in opposition to her. These motions had raised the probability that considered one of many jurors won’t have been accurately vetted by the courtroom.

The most recent submitting talked about a “jury panel itemizing” throughout the case included a person who would have been 77 on the time of the trial. Voter registration data lists two folks with the equivalent ultimate determine “apparently” residing on the equivalent deal with, talked about the submitting, whereby the names have been redacted.

“The one that appeared for jury obligation with this determine was clearly the youthful one. Thus, the 52-year-old … sitting on the jury for six weeks was not at all summoned for jury obligation on April 11,” violating Heard’s due course of rights, the submitting talked about.

The Associated Press despatched emails looking for comment Sunday to a guide for Depp and two of his attorneys.