A US judge on Wednesday rejected actress Amber Heard’s request for a new trial in her legal battle against ex-husband Johnny Depp, whom she accuses of domestic violence, which he denies.
The actress, who recently lost a libel lawsuit against the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star, has asked for the verdict to be overturned over questions about the identity of one of the jurors. But Judge Penney Azcarate, who presided over the trial at the Fairfax courthouse near Washington, rejected her request, saying she “was not prejudiced” during the trial.
The 36-year-old actress, known for her roles in ‘Justice League’ and ‘Aquaman’, claimed that one of the jurors was not the one who received the summons. She had the same name, she lived at the same address, and the citation did not mention any date of birth for her.
“no evidence of fraud or misconduct”
For a man, it is common in the United States to have the same name as his father, with the suffix “Junior” or “III”.
“The jury approved (by both sides), stayed with the jury, deliberated and reached a verdict,” Judge Azcarate wrote in her decision, finding there was “no evidence of fraud or fault.”
“The only evidence before this court is that this jury and all the others complied with their oath, the instructions and the orders of the court. This court is bound by the competent decision of the jury,” he explained.
A highly publicized essay
Johnny Depp, 59, had sued his ex-wife for defamation, who described herself in a 2018 Washington Post column as “a public figure representing domestic violence,” without naming her ex-husband. He was seeking $50 million in damages, saying the platform had destroyed his career and reputation. Amber Heard had fought back and called for the double.
After six weeks of trial, Fairfax court jurors concluded June 1 that the ex-spouses had defamed each other. But they gave more than 10 million dollars to Johnny Depp, against only 2 million to Amber Heard. The trial, which was highly publicized and broadcast live on television, was followed by millions of viewers around the world and sparked an explosion of insulting messages towards the actress on social media.
During the trial, he recounted several scenes of violence, including a rape in March 2015 in Australia, where Johnny Depp was filming the fifth episode of “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The two actors had started a romantic relationship in 2011 and married in 2015. But Amber Heard had filed for divorce in 2016, claiming she was a victim of domestic violence, something that Johnny Depp has always denied. She dropped those charges when she finalized the divorce in 2017.
Source: BFM TV
