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Amber Heard's Lawyers Seek To Overturn Defamation Verdict Citing 'Improper Juror Service'
Amber Heard's legal team has submitted a motion demanding that the decision in her ex-husband Johnny Depp's defamation trial be overturned.
Amber Heard's legal team has submitted a motion demanding that the decision in her ex-husband Johnny Depp's defamation trial be overturned. The motion was submitted on Friday (July 1, 2022) exactly one month after the verdict was announced in Depp's favour as he was awarded $10.35 million in damages.
According to Variety, Amber's legal team has asked that the verdict of her paying Depp $10.35 Million should be overturned saying that the judgement on the actress is "inconsistent and irreconcilable." Her team has claimed that the verdict was not supported by evidence, and cited "investigate improper juror service," as one of the jurors who served during the trial was born in 1970, despite court officials listing their birth year as 1945.
"This discrepancy raises the question of whether Juror 15 actually received a summons for jury duty and was properly vetted by the court to serve on the jury," Heard's lawyers wrote. The statement added, "Mr Depp presented no evidence that Ms Heard did not believe she was abused. Therefore, Mr Depp did not meet the legal requirements for actual malice, and the verdict should be set aside."
The trial began when Depp sued Heard for defamation after she published an op-ed in the Washington Post in 2018 referring to her earlier abuse accusations. The couple got divorced two years after tying the knot in 2014. Heard had also filed for a restraining order against Depp claiming that he subjected her to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse during their relationship.
Prior to the American trial, the High Court of London gave a verdict against Depp in a separate case in 2020. The actor had sued the Sun for referring to him as a 'wife-beater' but lost the libel case.
