Johnny Depp's Team Calls Amber Heard's Request For A Mistrial Alleging Wrong Juror 'Frivolous'

In the twisted and highly-publicized defamation case involving Johnny Depp, Hollywood actor Amber Heard's legal team recently requested that a mistrial be declared, alleging that a wrong juror was seated on the jury.

According to Fox News, the filing was made by her legal team last Friday. They have argued that juror number 15 was not the individual who was summoned by the court and "could not have properly served on the jury at this trial."

BBC

The filing stated that the ¡®Jury Panel List¡¯ included an individual with a date of birth is 1945, meaning the individual would have been 77 years old during the trial.

However, an individual who is 52 years old and lives at the same address as the 77-year-old was the person who appeared for jury duty and sat on the jury, the filing alleges.

"The individual who appeared for jury duty with this name was the younger one. Thus, the 52-year-old- sitting on the jury for six weeks was never summoned for jury duty on April 11," the filing says.

Due to this alleged error, the legal team states that Heard¡¯s due process was "compromised," and a mistrial "should be declared."

Web Screen Grab

The filing added that the "safeguards" apparently didn¡¯t work in this instance, and the correct identity of the juror wasn¡¯t verified.

Former U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News that the allegation made by Heard¡¯s legal team is "not grounds for a mistrial or for the verdict to be overturned."

Twitter

"Even if it was intentional, her lawyers will have to prove that the juror misconduct would have resulted in a challenge for cause. That means the wrong juror could not have been fair and impartial. That¡¯s a tough hurdle for them to overcome," Rahmani said.

Depp's Lawyers Claim Heard's Accusations Are 'Misplaced':

Reuters

According to details obtained by Variety, Depp¡¯s team said on Monday that Heard's claims are "desperate, after-the-fact demands for an investigation of Juror 15 based on a purported error in his birth date" and are "misplaced."

variety

They claim that she failed to prove that her due process was violated. They argued that two teams vetted Juror 15 "just as all of the other jurors were."

Reuters

"Unsurprisingly, Ms. Heard cites no case law to support her argument that the service of Juror 15, if he is not the same individual that the Court assigned as Juror 15, somehow compromised her due process and would warrant the drastic remedy of ¡®setting aside the verdict and ordering a new trial,¡¯" wrote Depp¡¯s lawyers.

"Ms. Heard shows no prejudice; accordingly, her speculative arguments fail."

Reuters

The new filing from Heard's legal team came a week after Heard¡¯s legal team asked a judge to toss out the USD 10.35 million judgment made in favor of Johnny Depp, arguing that the evidence didn¡¯t support it.

Reuters

Following the six-week trial in Fairfax County, Virginia, a seven-person jury reached a verdict on June 1, deciding that Depp proved that Heard defamed him in the 2018 op-ed, in which she described herself as a "public figure representing domestic abuse."

Twitter

Depp has maintained that he never assaulted Heard and claimed she physically harmed him.

The jury awarded Depp USD 15 million in damages, but Heard will only have to pay USD 10.35 million due to a Virginia law limiting punitive damages (the judge reduced the amount). In her countersuit, Heard won one of the three defamation counts and was awarded USD 2 million in damages, as per People magazine.

(With ANI inputs)

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.)