Johnny Depp‘s lawyers have responded to new allegations from Amber Heard that one of the jurors in their sensationalized court case may not have been the person who was summoned. Heard’s legal team, who is also appealing, wants the verdict thrown out entirely due to the wrong juror somehow making it onto the jury.
However, Depp’s attorneys are arguing that even if the wrong person made it onto the jury, it wouldn’t have affected the outcome. Depp’s team also argues that Heard “waived her right to object by not raising the issue sooner.” Via Variety:
“Unsurprisingly, Ms. Heard cites to no case law to support her argument that the service of Juror 15 if he is not the same individual that the Court assigned as Juror 15 somehow compromised her due process and would warrant the drastic remedy of ‘setting aside the verdict and ordering a new trial,’” Depp’s lawyers wrote. “Ms. Heard makes no showing of any prejudice, and accordingly her speculative arguments fail.”
As for how the juror mixup even happened, a summons was reportedly sent to an address where both the correct juror and the one who showed up to court reside. (The nature of their relationship has not made been public.) According to Variety, the situation could’ve prevented Heard’s lawyers from properly scrutinizing the juror. If the wrong person showed up, her legal team would have no idea about this erroneous juror’s potential biases because they’d be looking into the background and social media posts for someone else.
It’s a pretty wild twist for one of the biggest trials in recent history. We’re talking O.J. numbers, people.
(Via Variety)