exclusive: If there isn’t enough drama going on about it Johnny Deppwin over Last month During Amber Heard In a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit, things have now turned out to be judicially bizarre.
“Miss. Heard was entitled to rely on the essential protection, as provided by Virginia law, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually called to serve on a jury,” said a new, partially redacted filing Friday by Aquaman star legal teamRead it here).
“In this case, it appears that juror 15 was not, in fact, the same person on the jury roll,” adds attorney Eileen Breedhoft. From 24 June. “Miss. So Heard’s due process has been breached. Under the circumstances, a trial must be declared erroneous and a new trial ordered.”
Unlike the previous motion and the memo filed in a Fairfax County court filing late last month to dismiss the June 1 ruling and get a new trial, today’s supplemental memo contains plenty of detail about what could snatch victory from Depp in his long legal battle with Deep. the ex wife.
According to the revised filing, the summons to jury duty was sent to a Virginia resident in April of this year due to the much-delayed $15 million defamation lawsuit that Depp initiated in March 2019 Against Heard of 2018 Washington Post An editorial she penned about being the “public face” of domestic violence. However, also according to today’s filing, there appear to be two people residing at the same address with, at least, the “same last name” – one a 77-year-old and the other a 52-year-old individual.
The first is the one who has been summoned, but the last seems to be the one who has attended. Thus, the 52-year-old (revised) who had been a jury member for six weeks was never called to serve on the jury on April 11 and did not “appear on the roster,” as required,” the conviction file asserts on Friday.
Unnoticed by officers or court clerks, the young man arrived at the jury apparently without being required to produce any identification, or possibly a false one, the filing notes. Additionally, it appears that someone filled out an online required information form either intentionally or unintentionally to say they were born in 1945.
Unaware of this at the time and during the frenzied media trial, Heard’s defense team now wants an explanation and sees some of the consequences that may be tarnishing Depp’s team:
As the Court undoubtedly agrees, it is very troublesome for an individual who has not been called to serve on jury nonetheless to appear on jury duty and serve on jury, especially in such a case. This was a high-profile case, as the fact and date of the jury trial was made public both before and after the jury summons were issued. Virginia has legal code provisions designed to ensure that the person called to serve on the jury is the person who makes it to the jury.
The Fairfax County Juror Survey Webpage furthers this goal by requiring all county residents to sign in with their 7-digit juror number, zip code, and “date of birth.” at. 5 (emphasis added). These safeguards are in place and the parties rely on them to verify the identity of the correct juror, to ensure due process and a fair trial for all litigants. When these safeguards are circumvented or not followed, as the case appears here, the right to a jury trial and due process is undermined.
Neither Heard nor Depp’s representatives responded to a request for comment from the Friday submission deadline. We are also trying to contact the Virginia Court for insight.
While the details are there, the gist of Heard’s move here isn’t surprising: Within about a minute of the over $10 million ruling, the ruling was handed down on June 1 in favor of Depp’s absence in Judge Benny Azcaret’s courtroom, Heard’s defense and the $100 million he has promised. The hostile team to fight the ruling on appeal.
Facing a $8.3 million bond offering going forward, the Heard team may have cut the Gordian financial knot with this Keystone Kops-like incident.
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