Judge denies Amber Heard’s request for mistrial in lawsuit won by ex-husband Johnny Depp

A Virginia decide on Wednesday rejected an effort by actress Amber Heard to both have a mistrial declared or put aside the $10 million US judgment awarded towards her in favour of her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

Depp received a defamation swimsuit towards Heard final month in a high-profile civil trial. Heard received a smaller, $2 million judgment on a counterclaim she filed towards Depp.

Earlier this month, Heard filed a movement looking for to have Depp’s verdict put aside, or have a mistrial declared. Her attorneys cited a number of components, together with an obvious case of mistaken id through which one of many seven jurors who determined the case was by no means summoned for jury obligation.

In a written order, Choose Penney Azcarate rejected all of Heard’s claims and stated the juror subject particularly was irrelevant and that Heard cannot present the juror was prejudiced.

Courtroom sure by resolution of jury, decide says

“The juror was vetted, sat for the complete jury, deliberated and reached a verdict. The one proof earlier than this Courtroom is that this juror and all jurors adopted their oaths, the Courtroom’s directions, and orders. This Courtroom is sure by the competent resolution of the jury,” Azcarate wrote.

Depp sued for $50 million US in Virginia’s Fairfax County, after Heard wrote a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Publish about home violence through which she referred to herself as “a public determine representing home abuse.”

The article by no means talked about Depp by identify, however his attorneys stated a number of passages within the article defamed him by implication by referring to extremely publicized abuse allegations she made in 2016 as she filed for divorce.

Heard then filed a $100 million counterclaim, additionally for defamation. By the point the case went to trial, her counterclaim had been whittled down to some statements made by certainly one of Depp’s attorneys, who known as Heard’s abuse allegations a hoax.

The jury awarded $15 million to Depp and $2 million to Heard on her counterclaim. The $15 million judgment was decreased to $10.35 million as a result of Virginia legislation caps punitive damages at $350,000.

Verdicts known as ‘inconsistent and irreconcilable’

The decide didn’t spell out her rationale for rejecting Heard’s different claims in Wednesday’s order.

Amongst different issues, Heard argued that the $10 million verdict is unsupported by the details, and appears to reveal that jurors did not give attention to the fallout from the 2018 op-ed — as they had been purported to do — and as an alternative simply appeared broadly on the injury Depp’s repute suffered on account of the alleged abuse.

Heard’s attorneys additionally argued argue that the verdicts for Depp on one hand and Heard on the opposite are basically nonsensical.

“The jury’s duelling verdicts are inconsistent and irreconcilable,” her attorneys, Elaine Bredehoft and Benjamin Rottenborn, wrote.

Juror served improperly, attorneys alleged

Heard’s attorneys additionally challenged the decision on the premise that one of many seven jurors who determined the case was by no means summoned for jury obligation.

Based on courtroom papers, a 77-year-old county resident obtained a jury summons. However the man’s son, who has the identical identify and lives on the similar tackle, responded to the summons and served in his stead.

Heard’s attorneys argued that Virginia legislation is strict about juror identities, and the case of mistaken id is grounds for a mistrial.

They introduced no proof that the 52-year-old son, recognized in courtroom papers solely as Juror 15, purposefully or insidiously sought to exchange his father, however they argue that risk shouldn’t be discounted.

“The Courtroom can’t assume, as Mr. Depp asks it to, that Juror 15’s apparently improper service was an harmless mistake. It might have been an intentional try to serve on the jury of a high-profile case,” Heard’s attorneys wrote.

Heard nonetheless has the power to enchantment the decision to the Virginia Courtroom of Appeals.