July 14, (THEWILL) – Amber Heard has being denied a request for a retrial of the defamation case against ex-husband, Johnny Depp.
A little over a month after Johnny Depp emerged victorious in court in their highly-publicised defamation trial, Judge Penney Azcarate, has formally denied Heard’s request for a new trial, following her loss to him and being ordered to pay the $15 million judgement settlement.
Judge Azcarate’s decision was made, due to finding no grounds to overturn the $10 million verdict in Depp’s favour.
The judge wasn’t done and also stated that Heard’s legal team should have raised an objection sooner in the case, while also stating that there is no evidence of fraud, and no evidence that a jury mistake resulted in a biased trial.
However, Heard is still moving forward with filing an appeal.
Amber Heard had asked the court to declare the previous verdict as a mistrial, after allegedly discovering that one of the jurors in the trial did not receive an official jury summons.
Her team stated that the jury summons was sent to a person from the same household, who is 25 years older than the juror who came to court.
Judge Azcarate addressed the jury issue, saying, “Defendant does not allege Juror Fifteen’s inclusion on the jury prejudiced her in any way. The juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated and reached a verdict. The only evidence before this Court is that this juror and all jurors followed their oaths, the Court’s instructions and orders. This court is bound by the competent decision of the jury.”
