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Amber Heard wants Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against her to be declared a mistrial after her lawyers claimed to have discovered that one of the jurors who decided the case was never actually summoned for jury duty.
Heard’s lawyers claimed that the “Aquaman” star is entitled to a mistrial “based on newly discovered facts and information that Juror No. 15 was not the individual summoned for jury duty on April 11, 2022,” according to documents filed with the Circuit Court of Fairfax County that were obtained by People Friday.
The court papers claimed that the person who was selected for the jury was 77 years old at the time and shares the same last name and address as someone who was 52. The jurors selected for the Fairfax County, Virginia, trial are registered voters in the area, and both individuals’ details, such as their names, birthdays and addresses, are included in the voter registration information.
However, Heard’s legal team alleged that it was the younger person who showed up to court and served as a juror in the six-week trial instead of the older one who was actually summoned.
“It is deeply troubling for an individual not summoned for jury duty nonetheless to appear for jury duty and serve on a jury, especially in a [trial] such as this,” the filing said, noting the “high-profile” status of the trial “where the fact and date of the jury trial were highly publicized prior to and after the issuance of the juror summonses.”
Heard’s legal team insisted the actress was not given the proper “due process” and asked for a mistrial “and a new trial ordered.”
A representative for Depp did not comment on Heard’s new motion when reached by the outlet.
Last week, Heard’s lawyers asked a Virginia judge to toss the verdict in the defamation trial, claiming that the judgment was not supported by sufficient evidence.
On June 1, a Virginia jury ruled that Heard defamed Depp when she wrote a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Post about surviving domestic abuse. The actor was awarded $15 million in damages, which the judge reduced to $10.35 million in accordance with state law.
Heard partially won her countersuit against Depp, receiving $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages.
However, Heard’s lawyers argued that the $10.35 million award against the actress was “inconsistent and irreconcilable” with the jury’s conclusion that both had defamed each other.
Photo: POOL via AFP / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
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