Amber Heard Requests Defamation Verdict Be Thrown Out Due To Fake Juror, Lack Of Evidence, & More

BYHayley Hynes2.9K Views
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Amber Heard & Johnny Depp
Heard and her team believe that Juror #15 was improperly vetted, and may not have actually been the person summoned to court.

Just as Johnny Depp's lawyers expected, Amber Heard and her legal team are fighting for a retrial.

As TMZ reports, the Aquaman actress filed new documents in Virginia over the last week, requesting that the judge either set aside the verdict in favour of Johnny Depp entirely, dismiss the complaint, or order a new trial. 

Amber Heard Requests Defamation Verdict Be Thrown Out Due To Fake Juror, Lack Of Evidence, & More
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The mother of one's lawyers have three main reasons for their filing. Firstly, they feel that there "wasn't sufficient evidence presented on Johnny's side to convince a jury that her words had hurt his career/cost him roles," arguing that the actor's career was "already on the ropes" even within the Pirates franchise before the publication of her 2018 op-ed.

Heard's team also feels that Ben Chew and Depp's other lawyers "failed to prove she acted with actual malice in the sense that there was little to no evidence offered up showing she ever believed she hadn't been abused by him and didn't believe every word uttered or written in the op-ed."


Another important point is that the Austin, Texas, native didn't actually name her ex-husband while writing. On top of that, lawyers have reason to believe that one of the jurors who sat on the stand might not have been the person who was summoned to court.

Apparently, Juror #15 was born in 1945 on paper, but in-person, looked to be much younger – perhaps born around 1970. Heard hopes for the court to investigate the matter further, and if they did erroneously end up on the jury, it could be cause for a re-trial.


Check back in with HNHH later for more pop culture news updates.

[Via]


About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.
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