A Virginia judge on Wednesday rejected an effort by actor Amber Heard to overturn the $ 10 million sentence handed down against her in favor of her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
Depp won a defamation suit against Heard last month in a high-profile civil lawsuit. Heard won a smaller sentence of $ 2 million for a counterclaim he filed against Depp.
Earlier this month, Heard filed a motion to overturn Depp’s verdict or have a trial declared void. His lawyers cited multiple factors, including an apparent case of misidentification with one of the jurors.
Read more: Johnny Depp resolves the assault lawsuit filed by the crew member of “City of Lies.”
In a written order, Judge Penney Azcarate dismissed all of Heard’s allegations and said the jury’s question was specifically irrelevant and that Heard cannot prove he had prejudices.
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“The jury was examined, sat for the entire jury, deliberated and reached a verdict. The only evidence before this Court is that this jury and all jurors followed their oaths, the instructions of the Court and the orders. This Court is bound by the competent decision of the jury, “Azcarate wrote.
Depp sued for $ 50 million in Fairfax County after Heard wrote a 2018 opinion piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence in which she referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” . The article never mentioned Depp by name, but his lawyers said several passages in the article defamed him for involvement in reference to the highly publicized allegations of abuse he made in 2016 when he applied. the divorce.
Heard filed a $ 100 million counterclaim, also for defamation. When the case went to trial, his counterclaim had been reduced to a few statements made by one of Depp’s lawyers, who described Heard’s allegations of abuse as a farce.
Read more: Amber Heard seeks to expel Johnny Depp defamation verdict
The jury awarded $ 15 million to Depp and $ 2 million to Heard for his counterclaim. The $ 15 million sentence was reduced to $ 10.35 million because Virginia law limits punitive damages to $ 350,000.
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The judge did not explain the reasons for rejecting Heard’s other allegations in Wednesday’s order.
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Among other things, Heard argued that the $ 10 million verdict is not supported by the facts and seems to show that jury members did not focus on the consequences of the 2018 opinion piece, as they were supposed to have. to do, and instead only looked broadly. for the damage that Depp’s reputation suffered as a result of the alleged abuse.
Heartd’s lawyers also argued that Depp’s verdicts on the one hand and Heard on the other are fundamentally meaningless.
“Jury duel verdicts are inconsistent and irreconcilable,” wrote his attorneys, Elaine Bredehoft and Benjamin Rottenborn.
Heard’s lawyers also challenged the verdict on the grounds that one of the seven jurors who decided the case was never summoned to be a juror. According to court documents, a 77-year-old county resident received a subpoena from the jury. But the man’s son, who bears the same name and lives in the same home, responded to the summons and served in his place.
Heard’s attorneys argued that Virginia’s law is strict about jurors’ identities and that the case of misidentification is grounds for annulment of the trial. They presented no evidence that the 52-year-old son, identified in court documents only as jury number 15, deliberately or insidiously tried to replace his father, but they argue that it should not be ruled out.
“The Court cannot assume, as Mr Depp asks, that the seemingly inadequate service of Jury 15 was an innocent mistake. It could have been a deliberate attempt to be part of the jury in a high-profile case.” , wrote Heart’s lawyers.
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Read more: Amber Heard says she’s afraid of new defamation lawsuits against Johnny Depp
Heard still has the ability to appeal the verdict to the Virginia Court of Appeals. The issues raised in the appellate court could be different from those Azcarate rejected Wednesday.
In an independent order, the judge ordered dozens of court documents to be sealed, including motions seeking to force independent medical examinations by both Depp and Heard. A handful of documents will remain sealed, mostly because they contain personal contact information or personal medical information.
“In this matter, both litigants sued each other, thus opening up to the public forum of a jury trial. Judicial records are public information,” Azcarate wrote.
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