Amber Heard's lawyers want her defamation trial verdict dropped. They claim a juror hadn't been vetted properly and that the sum awarded to Johnny Depp was 'excessive.'
- Amber Heard's lawyers have asked that the verdict in her defamation trial be tossed.
- Heard's team cited a lack of evidence and an "excessive" amount of damages among their reasons.
Amber Heard's lawyers filed a 53-page document on Friday, asking that the jury's verdict against her in the high-profile defamation lawsuit with her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, be tossed.
The memorandum requests that the jury's verdict to be set aside on all three counts that Heard was found liable for, to dismiss Depp's complaint, and for claims that a juror assumed a false identity to be investigated.
In the document, Heard's lawyers Elaine Bredehoft and Ben Rottenborn, argue that there was insufficient evidence to support Depp's claims that Heard had defamed him. They also asserted that the "jury's compensatory and punitive damage award were excessive as a matter of law," saying that Depp only deserved "reputational damages."
Heard and Depp were found to have defamed each other in June. The jury awarded Heard $2 million in damages and awarded Depp $15 million — $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. The judge later lessened the punitive damages to $350,000, citing limits set by state law.
Following the trial, Heard's lawyer said in June that the actor wouldn't be able to pay the monetary penalty awarded to Depp.
Also included in Friday's memo was an allegation that the identity of a jury member — Juror 15 — had not been adequately established while the jury was being assembled, which may have led to Heard being denied due process in the case.
"The court should investigate whether Juror 15 properly served on the jury," the document read. Heard's team argued that the designated Juror 15 was listed as being born in 1945, but claimed that the Juror 15 who served during the trial was "clearly born later than 1945."
"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," read the document. Per the memo, Heard's lawyers asked for "appropriate action" to be taken based on the results of the investigation.
The lawyers wrote that, based on the arguments in the memorandum, the court should set aside the jury's verdict in the case entirely, dismiss Depp's complaint, or order a new trial.
In an email to Courthouse News, Benjamin Chew, the head of Depp's legal team, said the motion filed by Heard's team was "what we expected, just longer, no more substantive."
Heard's motion to dismiss the verdict came a week after she and Depp failed to reach a settlement before their June 24 deadline — finalizing the jury's verdict.