Just when we thought Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial had come to an end, a new motion was filed in which the actress asks the court to dismiss the verdict due to inconsistencies in the identity of one of the jurors.
A new document filed by Amber Heard’s legal team asks the Virginia court to dismiss the verdict and overturn the judgment of the payment by the actress to her ex-husband Johnny Depp. According to Elaine Bredehoft and Ben Rottenborn, lawyers for the actress, the motion comes not only because there was insufficient evidence to prove that their client defamed Johnny Depp in the op-ed she published in The Washington Post, but also because they are asking for an investigation of one of the jurors who may have submitted a false identity.
The lawyers also asked for a reduction in the amount Amber must pay Johnny Depp, as “the jury’s award of compensatory and punitive damages was excessive as a matter of law” and claim that Depp deserved only “reputational damages.”
It should be remembered that the jury had a verdict in favor of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor in which Amber Hear was asked to pay 10 million dollars in compensatory damages and 5 million dollars in punitive damages; while she would only receive from Depp a payment of 2 million dollars for moral damages. After discounts, Heard has to pay 8.5 million in total.
After the verdict was announced, Heard’s legal team said that their client would not be able to pay such a sum and would appeal the jury’s decision. However, under Virginia laws, in order to file an appeal, she would have to pay a bond that equals the same amount she owes to Depp.
Regarding the accusations against one of the jurors, the memo issued by Heard’s legal team states that juror number 15 was unable to fully identify himself and thus may have manipulated the process.
“The court should investigate whether Juror 15 served correctly,” the document reads. According to Heard’s legal team, this juror claimed to have been born in 1945, but the same juror who appeared at trial “clearly had been born after 1945.”
“This discrepancy raises the question of whether Juror 15 actually received a summon and was properly vetted by the Court to serve on the jury,” the document reads.
Heard’s lawyers argue that based on this inconsistency, in addition to the lack of evidence and an excessive payment, the court should totally annul the verdict and order a new trial.
Just last June 24, it was announced that the legal teams of both Amber Heard and Johnny Depp had not reached an agreement, and the actress would try to continue with the appeal process.
Story originally published in Cultura Colectiva