Amber Heard calls for retrial of Johnny Depp defamation case as 'wrong juror showed up'

9 July 2022, 11:49

Amber Heard's lawyers have stepped up their demands for a new trial in her multimillion-dollar defamation case with Johnny Depp following claims the wrong juror showed up in court.

In documents filed on Friday, the Aquaman star's legal team said that "newly discovered facts and information" about juror 15 meant that a mistrial ought to be declared.

Lawyers said that one of the individuals originally summoned to serve in the trial had not appeared and had been replaced by someone else.

"Juror No 15 was not the individual summoned for jury duty on April 11, 2022, and therefore was not part of the jury panel and could not have properly served on the jury at this trial," the documents stated.

The documents continued: "As the Court no doubt agrees, 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 case such as this.

"This was a high-profile case, where the fact and date of the jury trial were highly publicised prior to and after the issuance of the juror summonses."

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Lawyers added that Ms Heard had the right "to rely on basic protection... that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty".

"Ms Heard's due process was therefore compromised," the documents stated.

"Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered."

Ms Heard's legal team previously filed claims that the decision returned on June 1 in favour of Mr Depp was not supported by the evidence presented during the six-week trial.

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Mr Depp sued his former partner over a 2018 article she wrote for the Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser.

Mr Depp consistently denied during his own evidence the "outrageous, outlandish" claims of abuse.

The 59-year-old was awarded $10.35 million (£8.2m) in damages.

Ms Heard won on one count of her countersuit, successfully arguing that her ex-husband's press agent defamed her by claiming her allegations were "an abuse hoax" aimed at capitalising on the #MeToo movement.

The jury awarded her $2m (£1.5m) in damages.

The six-week trial also saw Heard challenged over why she had not yet donated her seven million dollar (£5.7 million) divorce settlement to charities as promised.

In an interview since losing her court battle against the Pirates of the Caribbean star, Ms Heard said she "absolutely" still loves her ex-husband.

The 36-year-old actress also said she fears she could be "silenced" from speaking out in future.