Amber Heard demands MISTRIAL after claiming wrong juror was seated in Johnny Depp trial
Amber Heard is demanding a mistrial after claiming that one of the jurors seated during her trial against Johnny Depp was not supposed to be there. The new documents filed by the lawyers of the ‘Aquaman’ actress, revealed that one of the jurors who decided the case was never actually summoned for jury duty.
The new documents claimed that a jury summons was sent to a Virginia home where two people with the same name resided. It is being reported that the person summoned for the Heard-Depp trial was 77 years old but the one who actually showed up for jury service was 52. For the unversed, Depp won his case after the judge ruled the trial in his favor. The trial began in Virginia in April and concluded last month.
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Amber Heard demands mistrial
The new documents “based on additional discovered facts” obtained by Entertainment Weekly, claimed that the summons was sent in April and the older individual was called to serve. However, the younger one showed up in the court. "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," read the motion.
The documents submitted by Heard’s lawyer also filed that Virginia has safeguards in place to prevent these types of mixups. 7-digit juror number, zip code, and birth date are used to verify jurors' identities. The filing read, “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 are undermined and compromised."
‘Ms Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection’
According to Deadline, the filing shed further details on the mistrial. “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,” the partially redacted filing reads.
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The documents further shared, “In this case, it appears that Juror No. 15 was not, in fact, the same individual as listed on the jury panel. Ms. Heard’s due process was therefore compromised. Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered.”
