(RoyalPatriot.com )- Last week, a judge rejected Amber Heard’s hail Mary request for a mistrial in the defamation case brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Judge Penney Azcarate said in her order last Wednesday that there was no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing to warrant a mistrial in the case.
In the tabloid trial, Depp sued Heard for $50 million over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Heard countersued for $100 million after Depp’s former attorney described her allegations as a hoax.
The jury found that Heard had defamed Depp in her op-ed and he was awarded $15 million. The award was reduced to $10 million since Virginia law caps punitive damages. Meanwhile, Heard was awarded $2 million in her countersuit as the jury found Depp’s former attorney had defamed her.
In early July, Heard’s lawyers file a motion for a mistrial citing several factors, including a claim that one of the seven jurors had never been summoned for jury duty. The motion argued that the jury was supposed to include a 77-year-old but the juror by the same name and residence was only 52.
Judge Azcarate explained that a jury summons does not include a birth date and the age the juror wrote on the questionnaire “met the statutory requirements for service.” The judge also pointed out that both plaintiff and defense counsel had questioned the potential jurors and declared the jury acceptable, “therefore, due process was guaranteed and provided.”
The judge also wrote that Heard’s attorneys were provided the jury list five days before the trial began and had several opportunities to object during the proceedings.
Judge Azcarate said the only evidence is that the juror in question as well as every other juror on the panel “followed their oaths, the Court’s instructions, and orders,” therefore the Court “is bound by the competent decision of the jury.”
