A Virginia choose on Wednesday rejected an effort by actress Amber Heard to put aside the $10 million judgment awarded in opposition to her in favor of her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
Depp gained a defamation swimsuit in opposition to Heard final month in a high-profile civil trial. Heard gained a smaller, $2 million judgment on a counterclaim she filed in opposition to Depp.
Earlier this month, Heard filed a movement searching for to have Depp's verdict put aside, or have a mistrial declared. Her attorneys cited a number of components, together with an obvious case of mistaken id with one of many jurors.
In a written order, Decide Penney Azcarate rejected all of Heard's claims and stated the juror concern particularly was irrelevant and that Heard cannot present she was prejudiced.
"The juror was vetted, sat for all the jury, deliberated, and reached a verdict. The one proof earlier than this Court docket is that this juror and all jurors adopted their oaths, the Court docket's directions, and orders. This Court docket is certain by the competent determination of the jury," Azcarate wrote.
Depp sued for $50 million in Fairfax County after Heard wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Submit about home violence by which she referred to herself as "a public determine representing home abuse." The article by no means talked about Depp by identify, however his attorneys stated a number of passages within the article defamed him by implication by referring to extremely publicized abuse allegations she made in 2016 as she filed for divorce.
Heard then filed a $100 million counterclaim, additionally for defamation. By the point the case went to trial, her counterclaim had been whittled down to a couple statements made by one in every of Depp's attorneys, who referred to as Heard's abuse allegations a hoax.
The jury awarded $15 million to Depp and $2 million to Heard on her counterclaim. The $15 million judgment was lowered to $10.35 million as a result of Virginia legislation caps punitive damages at $350,000.
The choose didn't spell out rationale for rejecting Heard's different claims in Wednesday's order.
Amongst different issues, Heard argued that the $10 million verdict is unsupported by the information, and appears to reveal that jurors did not deal with the fallout from the 2018 op-ed piece — as they have been purported to do — and as an alternative simply regarded broadly on the harm Depp's repute suffered on account of the alleged abuse.
Heard's attorneys additionally argued argue that the verdicts for Depp on one hand and Heard on the opposite are essentially nonsensical.
"The jury's dueling verdicts are inconsistent and irreconcilable," her attorneys, Elaine Bredehoft and Benjamin Rottenborn, wrote.
Heard's attorneys additionally challenged the decision on the idea that one of many seven jurors who determined the case was by no means summoned for jury responsibility. In keeping with courtroom papers, a 77-year-old county resident obtained a jury summons. However the man's son, who has the identical identify and lives on the similar handle, responded to the summons and served in his stead.
Heard's attorneys argued that Virginia legislation is strict about juror identities, and the case of mistaken id is grounds for a mistrial. They offered no proof that the 52-year-old son, recognized in courtroom papers solely as Juror #15, purposefully or insidiously sought to switch his father, however they argue that chance shouldn't be discounted.
"The Court docket can not assume, as Mr. Depp asks it to, that Juror 15's apparently improper service was an harmless mistake. It may have been an intentional try and serve on the jury of a high-profile case," Heard's attorneys wrote.
Heard nonetheless has the flexibility to enchantment the decision to the Virginia Court docket of Appeals. The problems offered to the appellate courtroom may effectively be totally different from the problems Azacarate rejected Wednesday.