Bombshell Court Filing: Depp-Heard Trial May Need to Be Redone Due to 'Deeply Troubling' Juror Error
The possibility that “Depp-Heard II” could be playing at a Virginia courtroom has been raised in a legal filing.
The filing, published by Deadline, says a mistrial should be declared because someone other than a juror who had been selected for the trial was actually part of the jury.
Amid redactions that black out the names of those involved, the filing says that a 77-year-old man living at a certain address had been selected. However, the filing said, a 52-year-old man who lives at that same address is in fact the one who served as a juror during the trial.
Johnny Depp Verdict Thrown Into Chaos As Wrong Juror Seated In Virginia Trial, Amber Heard Says https://t.co/BiYzhhJDLA
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 8, 2022
The two individuals have the same last name, the filing said.
“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. Therefore, a mistrial should be declared and a new trial ordered,” the filing said.
The filing supplements a claim filed earlier this month that questioned whether one person on the jury was not among those elected, as Deadline has reported. The earlier filing offered a wide range of objections to the verdict in the trial, which resulted in a legal victory for actor Johnny Depp, who had claimed he was defamed by ex-wife and actress Amber Heard.
The new filing does not explain why the alleged difference was not noticed during the trial by either court officials or the attorneys for Heard.
“Ms. Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection, as prescribed by the Virginia Code, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty,” the filing said.
“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,” the filing said.
#AmberHeard is working every possible angle in an attempt to avoid paying #JohnnyDepp the $10.35 million settlement for winning his defamation case except proving that he actually abused her & that she didn’t lie about it because she cannot prove either.
https://t.co/S0ffZF2urW— Brian K. Murphy ???☠️ (@bmurphy63) July 9, 2022
“This was a high-profile case, where the fact and date of the jury trial were highly publicized prior to and after the issuance of the juror summonses. Virginia has in place statutory code provisions designed to ensure the person called for jury duty is the person arriving for jury duty,” the filing said.
The filing noted that Fairfax County, in which the trial was held, has multiple safeguards to ensure that jurors selected are the ones who actually serve.
“When these safeguards are circumvented or not followed, as appears to be the case here, the right to a jury trial and due process are undermined and compromised,” the filing said, adding, “Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered.”
Deadline said that no one from either the Depp or Heard camps responded to its attempt to learn more about the filing, nor did court officials.
Jon Katz, an attorney in Fairfax, said if the allegation is true, it could have a major impact, according to Variety.
“It’s going to come down to whether Amber can show real prejudice,” he said.
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