Amber Heard's bid for Johnny Depp defamation re-trial rejected by judge

Amber Heard's bid for Johnny Depp defamation re-trial rejected by judge
July 14, 2022, 8:26 am

(L) Amber Heard (R) Johhny Depp

Virginia judge, Penney Azcarate, on Wednesday (July 13) rejected actress Amber Heard’s demand for a new trial in the defamation case she lost to her former husband Johnny Depp, the Arabnews reported, citing the AFP.

Last week, Heard's attorneys filed a motion saying that one of the jurors chosen for the trial was not the same person who received the jury summons.

Heard had asked for a new trial because one of the seven jurors was not the man summoned for jury service but his son in a case of mistaken identity.

“There is no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing,” Azcarate said, and the juror “met the statutory requirements for service.”

The judge said that “The juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated, and reached a verdict.”

Attorneys for actor Johnny Depp on Monday rejected the efforts by Heard's legal team and called the filing, "frivolous."

Depp's attorneys wrote: "While Ms. Heard slings an exceptional amount of mud at the wall in the hope that something might stick, the jury's verdict on damages was perfectly reasonable and supported by the evidence and testimony" heard over the trial.

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The jury in June found Depp and Heard liable for defamation — but sided more strongly with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star following an intense six-week trial riding on bitterly contested allegations of domestic abuse.

The case, live-streamed to millions, featured lurid and intimate details about the Hollywood celebrities’ private lives.

In early June, a jury found Heard guilty of three defamation claims and ordered her to pay $10.35 million in damages to Depp. Depp was found guilty of one defamation claim and Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.

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The jury concluded "they were both abusive to each other" but Heard's team failed to prove Depp's abuse was physical, the ABC news noted.

levantnews- agencies

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