Johnny Depp case: a judge rejects Amber Heard’s request for a new trial – Le Figaro

The actress, who recently lost a libel suit against the Pirates of the Caribbean star, was seeking the reversal of the verdict due to doubts about the identity of one of the jurors. Actress Amber Heard was dismissed on Wednesday from her request for a new trial in her legal battle against her former husband Johnny Depp, whom she accuses of domestic violence, which he denies. The actress, who recently lost a defamation lawsuit against the Pirates of the Caribbean star, asked for the verdict to be quashed due to doubts about the identity of one of the jurors. But Judge Penney Azcarate, who presided over the proceedings at the court in Fairfax, near Washington, rejected her request, saying she had “suffered no prejudice” 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 a court summons. “No evidence of fraud” He bore the same name, lived in the same address, and the summons did not mention any date of birth. 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 juror was approved (by both parties), stayed with the jury, deliberated and reached a verdict,” Judge Azcarate wrote in her decision, finding that there was “no evidence of fraud. or fault”. “The only evidence before this court is that this juror 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,” she explained. Johnny Depp, 59, had sued his ex-wife for defamation, who described herself in a column published by the Washington Post in 2018 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 counter-attacked and demanded the double. After six weeks of trial, jurors in the Fairfax court concluded on June 1 that the ex-spouses had defamed each other. But they granted more than 10 million dollars to Johnny Depp, compared to only 2 million for Amber Heard. To read also Amber Heard and Johnny Depp: from glam to sordid, a look back at the resounding trial of the year The trial, ultra-mediatized and broadcast live on television, was followed by millions of viewers around the world and caused a rampage of insulting messages towards the actress on social networks. During the trial, she 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 were married in 2015. But Amber Heard had filed for divorce in 2016, claiming to be the victim of domestic violence, which Johnny Depp has always denied. She dropped those charges when the divorce was finalized in 2017.