Amber Heard’s attempt for a mistrial in the defamation case against her ex-husband Johnny Depp has been denied by a judge. The actress had claimed that the wrong juror showed up to court and went after a retrial. Depp’s lawyers called her motion “desperate” and “frivolous”.
Now, according to legal documents accessed by ET, Judge Penney S. Azcarate ruled that there’s no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing in the jury mix-up claim by Heard’s attorneys.
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Amber Heard Denied A Retrial In Johnny Depp Case
The defamation trial was won by Johnny Depp in June. New legal documents reveal how Judge Penney S. Azcarate shut down Amber Heard’s request for a mistrial.
The filing reads, that the actress “was provided with the jury list five days prior to the commencement of trial and knew or should have known about the mistake at any time during the seven-week pendency of this trial.”
Azcarate further added, “She had every opportunity to object to or to [speak the truth]on the issue. Parties generally must make objections at the time a ruling or order is made to put the Court on notice that an issue is meant to be preserved.”
The judge also made it clear that both parties had an obligation to ascertain the authenticity of the information provided for the jury panel, and “a party cannot wait until receiving an adverse verdict to object, for the first time, on an issue known since the beginning of the trial.”
She also said that “the parties questioned the jury panel for a full day and informed the Court that the jury panel was acceptable and due process was guaranteed and provided to all parties in this litigation.”
Judge’s Counter To The Claims Made By Heard’s Legal Team
Amber Heard’s lawyers filed a motion about a juror serving improperly in the defamation trial which they claimed to have compromised the verdict. Apparently, a 52-year-old man showed up for jury duty instead of the 77-year-old man who was summoned. Both of them share the same last name and live at the same address.
Azcarate also explained, “The summons issued to Juror Fifteen listed his legal name and address and no birth date was noted. The court has pulled Juror Fifteen’s Jury Questionnaire. Juror Fifteen completed the Jury Questionnaire as himself filling in his proper birth date. The information presented on the Jury Questionnaire matches the information Juror Fifteen provided to the Court.”
The judge also said the 52-year-old being on the jury didn’t prejudice the ‘Aquaman’ actress in any way as “the juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated, and reached a verdict.”
The judge concluded the legal document by saying that “the only evidence before this Court is that this juror and all jurors followed their oaths, the Court’s instructions, and orders.” And, as such, “this court is bound by the competent decision of the jury.”
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