Johnny Depp’s lawyers have responded after Amber Heard called for the verdict in her battle for high-profile defamation to be launched amid a jury complaint in the case.
In June, a Fairfax civilian jury awarded $ 10.35 million to Depp after discovering that Heard had defamed him when he wrote a 2018 opinion piece in The Washington Post about domestic violence.
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The jury also awarded $ 2 million to Heard for his counterclaim which was slandered by one of Depp’s lawyers after he labeled his allegations of deception.
In early July, in a motion filed in Fairfax County Circuit Court and published by Courthouse News, Heard’s attorneys asked the court to “dismiss” the complaint and “investigate a possible inappropriate jury service.”
Among several arguments, Heartd’s lawyers suggested that a member of the jury may have been illegally selected.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in 2014 in New York City. Credit: Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images
According to court documents, a 77-year-old man was summoned. But the man who responded in his place was his 52-year-old son, who bears the same name and lives in the same home.
“Jury No. 15 was apparently born in 1970, not 1945, as reported and on which the parties, including Ms. Heard, relied to select a jury,” Heartd’s attorneys wrote. .
“It appears that the identity of the jury was not verified. It is unclear whether jury number 15 was, in fact, summoned to be a jury or qualified to be part of the jury.
“This justifies an investigation by this court to determine whether the jury was actually summoned and whether the rights of the due process of the parties were skipped.”
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In court documents filed Monday, Depp’s attorneys questioned Heard’s team’s arguments that the jury’s verdict was absurd and unfounded.
They also said Heard’s team’s complaints about the jury’s identity were irrelevant.
Johnny Depp without facial hair at a recent concert in Helsinki. Credit: Venla Shalin / Redferns
They argued that there was nothing inconsistent about the jury awarding judgments in favor of both Depp and Heard.
They said the jury’s verdict form allowed jurors to be very specific about which statements were defamatory, and the verdict makes sense when looking at the specific statements cited by the jury.
As for the confusion over the jury’s identity, Depp’s lawyers said it was too late for Heard’s team to oppose.
Johnny Depp’s lawyers have responded after Amber Heard called for the verdict to be removed in her battle for high-profile defamation. Credit: NBC
Depp’s lawyers argue that if Heard’s team had concerns, they should have spoken at the time because it was clear the man he served was not 77 years old, although court documentation described him as such.
Judge Penney Azcarate has not yet indicated whether he plans to hold a hearing to hear arguments on the motions to overturn the verdict.
The FBI and Amber Heard
The new development comes amid reports that the FBI is helping the Australian government investigate whether actress Amber Heard was perjured in a Queensland court in 2016.
Allegations of perjury relate to legal proceedings arising from a visit to Australia with Johnny Depp in 2015, when Heard broke strict quarantine laws by failing to declare the couple’s two dogs, Pistol and Boo, Law & Crime Network.
Heard smuggled the two Teacup Yorkies into the country on a private jet in May 2015 when her then-husband was making the fifth film Pirates of the Caribbean, circumventing quarantine protocols and violating strict Australian biosecurity laws in the process.
A Fairfax civilian jury awarded $ 10.35 million to Depp after he found out he was defamed by Heard Credit: Getty / Instagram
According to the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, dogs or cats brought to Australia from the US must have an import permit, spend 10 days in quarantine and undergo a veterinary examination before being released.
None of this happened before the dogs arrived at Depp and Heard’s luxury accommodation on the Gold Coast.
Then-Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce ordered Pistol and Boo to be out of the country or sacrificed.
The story reached international headlines after Heard was accused of illegally importing dogs into the country.
She was fined after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge of falsifying travel documents and then, along with Depp, was forced to record an awkward apology video.
“I am very sorry that Pistol and Boo have not been declared,” a sad-looking Depp said in the following video.
“Protecting Australia is important.
“State it all when you enter Australia.”
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in an apology video after the Pistol and Boo incident. Credit: 7NEWS
The dogs were moved back to the United States, as Heard blamed jet lag and sleep deprivation for not declaring the dogs when he entered Australia.
But in Depp’s 2020 UK defamation lawsuit against The Sun, his former property manager Kevin Murphy said he had repeatedly told Heard that dogs could not enter Australia because the proper documentation had not been completed.
He also stated that Heard wanted him to ask his former assistant, Kate James, to take responsibility for not arranging the necessary paperwork.
Heard told the UK court that the Pistol and Boo saga was Depp’s fault and that he had told him to “fatten” (that is, pay) a vet.
A spokesman for the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment told Law & Crime that “it was investigating Mrs Heard’s allegations of perjury during court proceedings for the illegal importation of two dogs into Australia in 2015.”
Barnaby Joyce euthanized Pistol and Boo. Credit: 7NEWS
“As the matter is ongoing, the department cannot comment further,” the spokesman said.
The department did not confirm or deny FBI involvement.
But retired FBI agent and lawyer Bobby Chacon told the Law & Crime network that FBI involvement in the Australian investigation was not unusual.
“The FBI maintains an office in Canberra and there are FBI agents permanently assigned to Australia,” he said.
“Part of their mission is liaison and assistance, so if Australians needed anything from here in the United States, they would definitely contact the FBI office in Australia and it’s the FBI would probably help them. “