Amber Heard requested a Mistrial after claiming the wrong jury was seated in Johnny Depp’s trial
After claiming that one of the jurors sitting during her trial against Johnny Depp was not meant to be there, Amber Heard is asking for a mistrial. According to newly filed documents by the actress from “Aquaman,” one of the jurors who rendered the verdict was never really called to jury duty.
According to the new documents, a jury summons was delivered to a Virginia residence where two people with the same name lived. According to reports, the person who actually showed up for jury duty was 52 years old, despite being summoned for the Heard-Depp trial at the age of 77. Depp won his case for the uninitiated after the judge decided the trial in his favor. The Virginia trial started in April and ended last month.
The elder person was summoned to serve in April, according to the new records received by Entertainment Weekly “based on additional found information.” The younger one, though, appeared in court. Thus, according to the motion,” Thus, the 52-year-old sitting on the jury for six weeks was never summoned for jury duty on April 11 and did not ‘appear in the list,’ as required,”
Heard’s attorney also stated in the materials presented that Virginia has procedures in place to stop these kinds of mix-ups. The identities of the jurors are confirmed using their seven-digit juror number, zip code, and birthdate. In order to provide due process and a fair trial for all litigants, the filing stated that “Those safeguards are in place and relied upon by the parties to verify the identity of the correct juror, to ensure due process and a fair trial for all litigants,” reads the filing. “When these safeguards are circumvented or not followed, as appears to be the case here, the right to a jury trial and due process is undermined and compromised.”
Deadline reports that the filing revealed additional information about the mistrial. The brief, which has been partially redacted, states that “Ms. Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection, as prescribed by the Virginia Code, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty,” “In this example, it appears that Juror No. 15 was not, in fact, the same person as listed on the jury panel,” the records continued. As a result, Ms. Heard’s right to due process was violated. A mistrial should be declared in this situation, and a new trial should be initiated.