Amber Heard asks court docket to declare a mistrial in Johnny Depp defamation case over challenge with juror
Amber Heard asks court docket to declare a mistrial in Johnny Depp defamation case over challenge with juror
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In court docket paperwork dated July 8 within the circuit court docket of Fairfax County, Virginia, which supplemented an earlier submitting, attorneys for Heard declare the knowledge on the jury panel listing despatched to counsel forward of trial seems doesn't seem to match the demographics of one of many jurors.
Juror 15 was apparently born in 1970, however the summons to be a juror was for somebody of the identical final identify born in 1945, the court docket paperwork declare.
"Juror No. 15 was not the person summoned for jury responsibility on April 11, 2022 and subsequently was not a part of the jury panel and couldn't have correctly served on the jury at this trial," the memorandum reads. "Subsequently, a mistrial ought to be declared and a brand new trial ordered."
The paperwork state that Juror 15 and the person initially summoned to serve on the jury each reside on the similar tackle.
"Because the Courtroom little question agrees, it's deeply troubling for a person not summoned for jury responsibility nonetheless to look for jury responsibility and serve on a jury, particularly in a case corresponding to this," the submitting continues.
It is unclear if the court docket was conscious of the alleged error previous to the trial.
Muricas News has reached out to the court docket and to Depp's attorneys for remark. Depp's attorneys have 30 days to reply Heard's movement.
The court docket submitting argues that Heard's due course of was compromised if the person was not the identical particular person on the listing, or if the clerk didn't confirm his or her id.
Heard and Depp have been each discovered answerable for defamation of their lawsuits in opposition to one another final month, however the jury awarded $15 million in damages to Depp and solely $2 million to Heard.
In a submitting final week, Heard's attorneys beforehand raised the potential challenge of the juror and claimed the damages awarded to Depp have been extreme and unsupported by the proof at trial. In addition they accused Depp of counting on "time-barred and judicially privileged statements as the idea for his defamation by innuendo claims."
Muricas News's Kristina Sgueglia and Mirna Alsharif contributed to this report.
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