Amber Heard’s attorneys are attempting to have the Virginia jury’s defamation judgement overturned one month after it was announced, alleging that the verdict is unsupported by the available evidence. Heard’s legal team filed for the same at Fairfax County Circuit Court in a 43-page petition.
The Aquaman star’s plea comes after a jury found her responsible for defamation for a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post, which commanded her to pay USD 10.35 million in damages to her ex-husband Depp. According to Variety, Amber’s lawyers have also asked the court “to examine improper jury service” and alleged that public records show one of the jurors who participated in the trial was born in 1970, even though the court records show their birth year as 1945.
The document questions the same saying, “This discrepancy raises the question whether Juror 15 actually received a summons for jury duty and was properly vetted by the court to serve on the jury”, via Variety.
One of the fundamental objections raised by Heard’s attorneys in their request to have the decision overturned is that Depp did not submit any evidence, and the document claims, “Mr Depp presented no evidence that Ms Heard did not believe she was abused. Therefore, Mr Depp did not meet the legal requirements for actual malice, and the verdict should be set aside.”
Amber also posted a message on Instagram after the trial’s ruling, calling it a step backwards for women. The actress also spoke with Today in her first in-depth interview since the trial’s verdict and said she stands by what she said in court.
