Amber Heard Suffers Another Crushing Loss In The Johnny Depp Trial
Amber Heard's attempt to get the verdict in the Johnny Depp defamation case vacated has met yet another hurdle.
This article is more than 2 years old
The seemingly endless legal battle between estranged spouses Amber Heard and Johnny Depp continues and once again, things have not turned out well for heard. In response to a recent filing by the Aquaman actor’s legal team, circuit court Judge Penney Azcarate dismissed a motion to either have the verdict in the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp defamation set aside or to rule for a mistrial. This was the latest maneuver by Amber Heard’s team to dispute the verdict in the case, which overwhelmingly fell in Johnny Depp’s favor and yet again unsuccessful in changing the outcome of the case.
According to The Guardian, Amber Heard’s legal team sought to invalidate the verdict of the recent Johnny Depp defamation case via a number of issues. Most interestingly, the filing claimed potential fraud by one of the jurors in the case; specifically, the motion to vacate the verdict asserted that Juror #15 had not been properly vetted by the court and thus the decision was essentially tainted. The reasoning behind this was that there were two individuals of the same name living at the residence that received a jury duty summons, apparently a father and son. The filing by Amber Heard’s legal team claimed that the individual who ended up serving on the jury was the son (rather than his 77-year-old father) and that the possibility existed that he had purposely misled the Virginia legal system to serve on the high-profile case involving Johnny Depp.
However, Amber Heard’s legal team did not present any evidence that this was actually the case, as noted by Judge Azcarate. Instead, the judge asserted that if there was an issue regarding the juror, it should have been brought up during the day-long jury panel. Additionally, Judge Azcarate stated that the juror met the statutory requirements to serve on the jury and had been vetted by both parties. This ruling was final, so Amber Heard may no longer appeal for a mistrial or to vacate the verdict in the Johnny Depp defamation case in Fairfax. However, she can still file with the Virginia Court of Appeals, which she almost certainly will do. In order to do so, Amber Heard must post a bond of over $10 million dollars (essentially equivalent to the damages she was ordered to pay Johnny Depp in the verdict) along with 6% interest.
Since the verdict in the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp defamation case was read, the former party has sought to have it invalidated. Johnny Depp’s team has countered that Amber Heard has yet to prove any malice, prejudice, or evidence to have the verdict set aside. The case will no doubt continue to be a topic of news, but it does appear that Amber Heard’s options are dwindling by the day. There have been consistent reports that Amber Heard is being courted by publishing houses to write a tell-all “revenge” book about her relationship with Johnny Depp that could net her as much as $15 million, a sorely needed payday for the allegedly cash-strapped actor. We will continue to update.
