Amber Heard is asking for a mistrial. Image Source: ET 

Amber Heard is asking for a mistrial.

The infamous defamation trial between Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard has taken a new turn where the actress’ legal team has filed documents at Fairfax County Court, Virginia claiming that a wrong person served on the jury that eventually announced the verdict in Johnny Depp’s favor and had agreed that Amber Heard did defame her ex-husband.

According to the documents that have been obtained, Amber Heard’s team, which includes Elaine Bredehoft and Ben Rottenborn, has now stated that a legal error occurred since one of the jurors who was chosen at the time was 77 years old, shared a last name and residence with a person who was 52 years old, and showed up in court as a juror. Please take notice that the jury members chosen by Fairfax County Court are both residents who are registered to vote, and their information is available in the voter registration database.

Amber Heard’s team has claimed that a younger person who was not sworn in for jury duty showed up and somehow managed to get picked for the six-week-long trial between the actors. Thus, the actress's team wants the judge to declare a mistrial and order a new trial instead. They now know that juror number 15 was not the one who was summoned for jury duty on April 11th, 2022, and as a result, she was not a member of the jury panel and was ineligible to serve on the jury at this trial, according to the declaration in the document. Judge Penney should order a new trial as a consequence and declare a mistrial.

Amber Heard's team claims that one of the jury members was not summoned for the jury duty. Image Source: Sky News 

The court documents that were obtained by the publications disclose that the voter registration information included two people with the same last name who are both living in Virginia and have the birthdates XX/XX/1945, who is 77 years old, and XX/XX/1970, who is 52 years old. It also shared that both of these individuals live at the same address. The Juror Questionnaire webpage in Fairfax County, which requires all residents to log in using their 7-digit jury number, zip code, and birth date, is one of the safeguards the court has in place to make sure that the person called in for jury duty is the person arriving for jury duty, according to the court. According to Amber Heard's legal team, the right to a jury trial and due process were violated since the court's procedures were not followed.

The latest court petition comes after Amber Heard's lawyer urged the judge to overturn the $10.35 million judgments against the actress and in favor of Johnny Depp that were made public on June 1, 2022. She had argued in court records that the evidence didn't support the verdict and that one of the jurors hadn't been thoroughly screened, but Friday's submission provided more details. Amber Heard is requesting a mistrial and a fresh trial as a whole after the lawyers claimed that she did not receive the appropriate due process.

Amber Heard’s team, just after the verdict was announced, was quick to give interviews stating that the verdict is going to be a setback for the women all over the world who have decided to speak against their abusers. Elaine Bredehoft also mentioned in her interviews that Amber Heard does not have the money she is obligated to pay to Johnny Depp before saying that they are going to appeal and have great grounds to do so.

Judge Penney Azcarate filed the decision into the docket back in June, making it official. The jury's decision, which gave Johnny Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive penalties, was finalized during that hearing. The state's statutory cap, however, resulted in a reduction of the punitive damages to $350,000. Rather than receiving punitive penalties, Amber Heard received compensatory damages worth $2 million.

According to new reports, Amber Heard wanted her New York Marine and General Insurance Co. to cover a portion of the amount she is liable to give to Johnny Depp as ordered by the court but the Insurance company has refused to pay the amount stating that the actress 'willfully' defamed the actor. According to the deal, Amber Heard had with New York Marine and General Insurance Co. defamation is included in the policy's list of wrongdoings, however, there is an exception. The insurance coverage is governed by California law, and according to California law, an insurance company is not liable if the insured in this case, Amber Heard had engaged in unlawful, "WILLFUL" misbehavior. So now according to New York Marine, the jury found that Amber intentionally and maliciously slandered others.

Johnny Depp’s team has not yet responded to the claims of Amber Heard's filing for a mistrial.