In the defamation lawsuit between FAIRFAX, Virginia (AP)-Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Heard’s attorney, who alleges that one of the jurors was improperly served, has claimed in a recent statement that he requested the court to declare a false trial and file a new lawsuit.
“Newly discovered facts,” Heard’s attorney wrote in a five-page memo presented Friday in Fairfax District Court in Virginia, showed that the 15th juror in the six-week trial was not the same person who was summoned to testify at the trial in April.
Instead, the documents show that the 15th jury was a young man with the same surname and “apparently” living at the same address.
“I undoubtedly agree that a person who is not a juror in court but is a member of the jury and is a juror is very disturbing, especially in such a situation,” the statement said.
Depp sued his ex-wife over a Heard article published in The Washington Post in December 2018, in which she described herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence.” Most of her statements centered on whether Hurd had suffered the physical and sexual abuse she claimed. Depp said he didn’t hurt Heard and that he was a rapist.
After a televised trial that turned into a show, the jury found that all three of Depp’s claims regarding certain statements in the 2018 article were in their favor.
The jury ruled that Depp should receive $10 million in damages and $5 million in fines, but the judge reduced the penalty to $350,000, below the state cap.
Heard previously said he plans to appeal the decision.
Friday’s filing news was first reported by Deadline, who posted the document online.
The memorandum was extended to previous post-trial motions by Heard’s legal team asking the judge to overturn the verdict against him. These actions raised the possibility that one of the jurors might not have been properly considered by the court.
The most recent document states that the “jury list” in the case includes a man who would have been 77 at the time of the trial. According to the redacted document, the names of two people with the same surname “apparently” living at the same address are included in the voter registration information.
“The man who appeared on the jury by that name was obviously younger. Thus, a 52-year-old man… was a member of the jury for six weeks and was never called to be a member of the jury on April 11,” the statement said.
On Sunday, the Associated Press sent out emails from Depp’s representative and two of his lawyers seeking comment.
Source: Breitbart
