Amber Heard and her legal team are calling for a mistrial claiming the wrong juror was seated at the trial in which she was sued for defamation by ex-husband Johnny Depp. NBC News reports that Heard’s legal team filed a five-page document claiming that Juror No. 15 “was not the individual summoned for jury duty on April 11, 2022.” The legal team says a 77-year-old was summoned for jury service for the defamation trial. However, Juror No. 15 was a 52-year-old with the same last name and address as the summoned individual. Claiming this compromised Heard’s due process, the actress’ layers are calling for a mistrial, thus overturning the verdict that awarded Depp $10.4 million in defamation damages.
Amber Heard Mistrial Would Prolong Battle With Johnny Depp
If Heard’s legal team’s claims are valid, this may result in another trial and a prolonged battle with Johnny Depp. Depp sued Heard for defamation after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018, claiming to have been a victim of abuse. While she made clear going into the trial that Depp was not mentioned by name, his identity was heavily suggested. Heard verified repeatedly during her testimony that she wrote the op-ed about Depp. Depp did suffer some losses due to his tarnished reputation, such as being let go from the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
Heard and her lawyers have said repeatedly that the actress cannot afford to pay the money. Heard and her team has repeatedly suggested they will appeal, though the judge has warned that this will prove costly. The circus of a trial revealed many problematic issues with Heard, including her failure to live up to a pledge to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Depp himself recently donated $800,000 to the hospital, which he garnered from NFT sales.
Is this drama between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard getting tiring? Say what you think in the comments.
