New ‘Legal Blow’ Amber Heard

A judge in Virginia has rejected Amber Heard’s request for a retrial in the defamation case she lost to her ex-husband, actor Johnny Depp.

Heard’s lawyers had asked Judge Benny Azcaret to overturn the jury’s ruling ordering Heard to pay Depp $10 million in damages, in addition to declaring the trial void, but their request was denied by the judge.

The reason for Heard’s request for a retrial was that a member of the jury was not the man summoned by the court but his son, in an error that occurred because the names of the two men were similar.
Azkaret confirmed that “there was no evidence of fraud or a violation,” and that the sworn member “had fulfilled the legal requirements to provide this service.”

She added: “He was investigated, sat before the entire jury, deliberated on the case and reached a verdict.”

On June 1, a jury found Depp and Heard responsible for defamation, but ruled in favor of the “Pirate of the Caribbean” star after an intense six-week trial in which they accused each other of violent practices.