Amber Heard’s lawyers call for retrial of defamation case due to ‘improper jury service’ | News about Ant-Man & Art
Amber Heard’s lawyers have issued another call for a retrial of her defamation case against Johnny Depp.
In documents filed Friday, the actress’ legal team said one of those originally summoned to serve as jurors in the trial did not show up and was replaced by someone else.
The documents, reported by the PA news agency, say: “Jury 15 is not an individual convened for jury duty on April 11, 2022, and is therefore not member of the jury and cannot serve appropriately for the jury at this time of trial.
“There is no doubt that an individual who has not been summoned for jury duty can appear for jury duty and serve on a jury, especially in a case like this. , it’s hard to understand.”
“This is a high profile case in which the facts and jury trial date are clearly announced before and after the issuance of the grand jury summons.”
The lawyers added that Ms. Heard was entitled “to base the basic defense … that the jurors in this trial will be actual individuals summoned for jury duty”.
“As a result, Ms. Heard’s settlement process was compromised,” the documents state.
“In these cases, a wrongdoing must be declared, and a new trial is required.”
Read more:
Depp v Heard: Key evidence from six weeks of ‘soap opera’ trial
The news comes just days after Heard .’s lawyers made another call to try againThe original judgment statement was not supported by evidence.
Depp sued Heard, his former partner, in a 2018 article she wrote for the Washington Post about her experiences as a victim of domestic abuse, which his lawyers say that accused him of being an abuser.
Depp denied abusing Heard and told jurors the ex-wife’s domestic abuse allegations were “disgusting and disturbing”.
Heard insists her post was not about her ex-husband but about the “bigger cultural conversation” surrounding the #MeToo movement at the time.
After six weeks of testimony, the case closed on June 1, with the jury finding that the article defamed Deppwho was awarded $10.35 million (£8.2 million) in damages.
Read more:
Depp v Heard: How does online abuse of Amber Heard become acceptable?
Heard won once in her counter-suit, successfully arguing that one of Depp’s attorneys defamed her by claiming her allegations were “an abusive hoax” aimed at to take advantage of the #MeToo movement.
The jury awarded her $2 million (£1.5 million) in punitive damages.
