Amber Heard vs. Johnny Depp Is Not Yet Over: Why Is ‘Aquaman’ Actress Filing for Mistrial?
The defamation case between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard is not over yet. Attorneys for Heard have asked the court to declare a mistrial and order a brand-new trial.
According to CNN, Heard's lawyers filed the court documents on July 8 in the circuit court of Fairfax County, Virginia. It claimed that the jury panel list, which was sent to them ahead of trial, does not appear to match the demographics of one of the jurors, Juror No. 15.
Amber Heard Lawyers Claim Juror No. 15 Should Have Been a Different Person
The court filing claimed that the Juror No.15 listed under the court panel list does not match the demographics of the person who sat as the juror during the trial. The juror was supposed to be born in 1945. However, the juror who participated in the trial appears to have been born in 1970. Because of this discrepancy, the lawyers, therefore, had to file for a mistrial.
The Aquaman actress's attorneys claimed that her due process was "compromised," so the judge has to declare a mistrial based on this discrepancy and then declare a new trial.
According to Deadline, this case might be stronger than previous filings and may take the victory away from Johnny Depp. This new filing claimed that the 52-year-old Juror No. 15, who sat on the jury panel, was never summoned for jury duty when the trial began. It claimed that the person had the same last name as the one who should have sat on the panel, and he should have been 77 years old.
CBS News reported that the court document did not provide any reason why or how this incident occurred. It is also noted that the names of the person who sat as Juror No. 15 and the person listed have been redacted.
Heard's lawyers claimed that Fairfax Country was supposed to have multiple measures in place to check whether or not the correct person was summoned, including submitting their zip code and birth date. However, the document alleges that the court did not catch any of that and the wrong person was sent as a juror.
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Seeking a Mistrial Might Be Easier and Cheaper for Amber Heard
The jury initially awarded Johnny Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard's lawyers also asked the judge to throw out the verdict last week because of the large sum of money the jury awarded Depp. They described it as "excessive" and "indefensible."
Johnny Depp is awarded $15 million. However, due to state limitations on punitive damages, he and his team can only collect $10.35 million. Meanwhile, Heard won $2 million in her countersuit.
Amber Heard is currently facing money problems because of Johnny Depp's win in his lawsuit. Furthermore, she would also have to pay any legal bond for her appeals, and this could cost her an additional $8.3 million, according to Deadline.
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This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
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