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Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have had a long and expensive legal battle, one that has definitely captured the attention of the public. While the defamation verdict was revealed over a month ago, the legal fallout has continued. And now Depp’s team has responded after Heard singled out Juror 15 in their recent appeal.
After the jury ultimately sided with Johnny Depp, Amber Heard’s representation has tried a few different attempts at sidestepping the verdict (and the whopping $10 million that she was ordered to pay the Pirates of the Caribbean star). The most recent strategy has been around the unnamed Juror 15, and whether or not the right person actually appeared in court. Heard’s lawyers have claimed he wasn’t properly vetted by the court, and therefore the ruling should be thrown out. Fox recently revealed that Depp’s legal team has responded, claiming it’s simply too late for this type of appeal, and that they already had plenty of time to examine the jury members prior to the trial. As Depp’s lawyer Ben Chew wrote in new legal documents,
Ms. Heard waived her right to challenge the accuracy of the information listed in the jury panel by failing to raise this objection contemporaneously.
Ben Chew revealed that the two people that shared Juror 15’s name are reportedly father and son, with the middle-aged son serving time on the jury of the defamation case. Johnny Depp’s lawyers also maintained that none of this is new information, and therefore the verdict shouldn’t be scrapped in any way. This comes as Amber Heard’s team recently doubled down on the allegation that the wrong person ultimately served on the jury.
These latest appeals by Amber Heard’s team may come partly because of the massive sum of money she’s been ordered to pay Johnny Depp. Heard was found guilty on three counts of defamation resulting in a payoff of over $10 million. Her lawyers have gone on record saying she won’t be able to pay, and that sum of money was actually also addressed in this update from Johnny Depp’s team. In these same legal documents filed by Ben Chew and company, it reads:
While Ms. Heard slings an exceptional amount of mud at the wall in the hope that something might stick, the jury’s verdict on damages was perfectly reasonable and supported by the evidence and testimony in the case.
It remains to be seen how successful this latest appeal by Amber Heard’s team of lawyers surrounding Juror 15 will be. $10 million is a huge sum of money. And while Johnny Depp’s lawyers originally stated the defamation case was about clearing his name and not making money, this latest update seems to indicate that they are indeed pushing for those millions.
If Amber Heard remains ordered to pay the $10 million to Johnny Depp, it could be handled in a few ways. The Aquaman actress could potentially lose property she owns, and might Depp might even be entitled to her future wages. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.