Last week, Heard’s legal team claimed that the actress, 36, isentitled to a mistrial"based on newly discovered facts and information" that one of the jurors present for the entire trial was not the one actually summoned for jury duty.
They said the person summoned was 77 at the time, but a 52-year-old with the same last name and address instead showed up and was seated. Her side said it is “deeply troubling for an individual not summoned for jury duty nonetheless to appear for jury duty and serve on a jury,” especially given the “high-profile” nature of the trial “where the fact and date of the jury trial were highly publicized prior to and after the issuance of the juror summonses.”
Heard’s lawyers said she was not given the proper “due process,” so she requested a mistrial “and a new trial ordered.”
Her ex-husband’s legal team fired back on Monday, insisting the verdict stand and reiterated their evidence. About the alleged juror mix-up, Depp’s team said Heard’s “desperate, after-the-fact demand for an investigation of Juror 15 based on a purported error in his birth date” is “misplaced.” They argued that she has “failed to identify any way” that the juror mix-up would have “somehow robbed her of” due process, and clarified that the juror was vetted “just as all of the other jurors were.”
Now, in a ruling on Wednesday, Judge Penney Azcarate, who presided over the Virginia defamation trial held in Fairfax County Circuit Court, denied Heard’s post-trial motions and said there is “no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing” among the jury.
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About the timing of Heard’s team raising the concern now after the verdict, the judge said Heard “knew or should have known about the mistake at any time during the seven-week pendency of this trial” and “had every opportunity to object” on the issue.
“A party cannot wait until receiving an adverse verdict to object, for the first time, on an issue known since the beginning of trial. The issue has been waived,” wrote Azcarate.
Reps for Heard and Depp did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
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In their filing this week, Depp’s team argued Heard had “ample time” to verify the juror’s information and raise any concerns prior to the trial, rather than bringing it up after the verdict.
Camille Vasquez and Johnny Depp.SHAWN THEW/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
After the verdict was revealed last month, Depp said in a statement that he felt like the jury, made up of five men and two women, “gave me my life back.” Heard, meanwhile, called the verdict a “setback” for women and said, “I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband.”
source: people.com
