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The saga between former spouse Johnny Depp and Amber Heard may not be over, even after a verdict in their case.
An alleged juror error has been discovered in the trial that was won by Depp and it may cause a mistrial, causing a new trial to be had, The Daily Wire reported.
“Heard’s legal team reportedly discovered that one of the jurors who showed up after being summoned was not, in fact, on the juror list to serve on the trial,” the report said.
“Ms. Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection, as prescribed by the Virginia Code, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty,” Heard’s attorneys said in a court filing. “In this case, it appears that Juror No. 15 was not, in fact, the same individual as listed on the jury panel. Ms. Heard’s due process was therefore compromised. Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered.”
Deadline reports that the issue at hand revolves a summons for jury duty that was addressed to a 77-year-old individual living in Virginia and that a 52-year-old individual living at the home with the same last name is the one who showed up for jury duty.
The report said that officers and clerks of the court somehow did not catch that this individual was not supposed to be on the jury.
In June, her attorney, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, said that she believes her client has “excellent grounds” for an appeal and they plan to do so when she spoke on the “Today” show on Thursday.
When she was asked if her client could pay the damages awarded to Depp she responded, “No, absolutely not.”
“It’s a horrible message. It’s a setback, a significant setback because that’s exactly what it means,” the attorney said of the verdict.
“Unless you pull out your phone and you video your spouse or your significant other beating you, effectively, you won’t be believed,” she said.
She said that she believed the jurors were swayed by what the perception of her client was on social media, even after the judge instructed them not to read anything about the case not in court.
“There’s no way they couldn’t have been influenced. It was horrible. It was really, really lop-sided,” she said. “It’s like the Roman coliseum, how they viewed this whole case.”
“’We had an enormous amount of evidence suppressed in this case that was in the UK case,” she said in reference to a case Depp had against The Sun in which he was defeated. “In the UK case when it came in, Amber won, Mr. Depp lost.”
“A number of things were allowed in this court that should not have been allowed and it caused the jury to be confused,’ she said.
“One of the first things she said is, I am so sorry to all those women out there. This is a setback. For all women in and outside the courtroom. And she feels — she feels the burden of that,” the attorney said.
Heard said the same when she issued a press release after the verdict.
“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It´s a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously,” she said.
For a month and a half eyes were glued to the trial between actors and former spouses Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, and on Wednesday the jury of seven finally gave its decision
After a delay waiting for the jury to write in dollar amounts, the jury found Depp had proved Heard defamed Depp and acted with malice in a 2018 op-ed in which she accused him of abuse.
The jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
The jury found Depp guilty of some defamation as well and awarded Heard $2 million in compensatory damages and $0 in punitive damages.
The judge reduced the punitive damages in Depp’s award to the limit of $350,000.
