Amber Heard's lawyer wants to withdraw the defamation case against her ex-husband
In addition to arguing that the sentence was not supported by evidence, Heard's attorneys asked the Fairfax County Circuit Court to "investigate jury error," alleging that public information indicated that one of the jurors who died during the trial was born in 1970. However, court officials gave his birth year as 1945.
On Friday, Hollywood star Amber Heard's legal team filed a motion to overturn the verdict in her ex-husband Johnny Depp's defamation trial, including $10.35 million in damages a jury awarded Depp. According to Variety, Heard's attorneys not only claimed that the conviction was not supported by evidence but also demanded that the Fairfax County District Court "investigate jury misconduct," alleging that public information indicated that one of the jurors at the time of the verdict in office was tried, born in 1970. However, court officials listed his year of birth as 1945.
"This discrepancy raises the question of whether a jury of 15 received a jury summons and was examined by the court to serve on a jury," Hurd's attorney wrote.
Heard's legal team also argued that the $10.35 million jury ruling for the actress was "inconsistent and inconsistent" with the jury's verdict that she and Depp had defamed each other. In addition to Depp's $10 million in damages and $350,000 in punitive damages, the jury awarded Heard $2 million in damages for his counterclaim.
"Mr. Depp has not provided any evidence that Ms. Heard does not believe he was abused," wrote Heard's attorney. "Therefore, Mr. Depp does not meet the legal requirements for an actual crime, and the conviction must be vacated." The trial began when Depp, the plaintiff in the case, sued Heard for libel after he published an opinion amount in the Washington Post in 2018—citing earlier allegations of abuse. Although the comments did not mention Depp, the actor claims it damaged his reputation and ruined his career.
Heard and Depp separated a year before the article's publication after two years of marriage, with Heard alleging that Depp was subjected to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse during their relationship. Ahead of the US trial, London's High Court ruled Depp in a separate defamation case in 2020, when the actor sued The Sun for calling him a "wife-beater."
A British court ruled that he had assaulted Heard in 12 of the 14 reported incidents. After the trial concluded in June, Heard gave an interview about the event and called the seven-week legal battle "the most humiliating and horrific thing he has ever experienced," according to Today.
The Guardian was the first to provide a detailed account of Heard's attempt to overturn the sentence.