Heard, who was found liable on three counts of defamation in June, said in a 43-page brief that the jury’s verdict should be tossed — and with it an award of more than $10 million — on the grounds that it was not substantiated from evidence. Represented by attorney Elaine Bredehoft at trial, Heard argued—among other things—that Depp’s claim that he lost his Pirates of the Caribbean role because of statements Heard made in a Washington Post article was false. Depp “moved solely on the defamation theory, abandoning any claims that Ms. Heard’s statements were actually false,” her attorney argued in a motion filed Friday. Heard also claims the jury’s award against her was excessive, as it came after a split verdict that found she and Depp had defamed each other. In an email to Courthouse News, Depp’s lead attorney, Ben Chu, dismissed the motion to dismiss as “what we expected, just more, not more substantial.” Heard also claims that a juror who served during the seven-week trial was improperly vetted by court officials because his year of birth was 1945. The juror, identified in the filing as Juror 15, “was clearly born later than 1945. Publicly available information indicates that he appears to have been born in 1970,” the motion said. “This discrepancy raises the question of whether Superintendent 15 actually received a summons for jury duty and was properly vetted by the court to serve on the jury.” The court’s office is required to verify the identity of jurors, but in this case, “it appears that his identity could not be verified,” the motion added. Judge Penney Azcarate has said she is not willing to schedule more hearings in the case. At the last legal meeting, on June 24, Azcarate placed the final decision on the court record after Bredehoft requested further hearings. Azcarate bluntly told Heard’s attorney that if she wanted to appeal the verdict from the seven-member jury, she would have to file motions with the jury. Azcarate also informed Bredehoft that the Aquaman star will have to post an $8.35 million bond with an annual interest rate of 6 percent before any appeal can proceed. Heard’s reps said she doesn’t have the money to pay Depp or meet the bond. With the $10 million judgment against Heard — and a $2 million judgment against Depp on a single count of defamation — filed in court, there appears to be little chance left for the parties to reach an out-of-court settlement. After the verdict, Depp’s lawyers hinted that the Pirates star might be willing to forego his share of the award. But Heard has since repeated many of her allegations against him, including during an interview with NBC, suggesting that the matter, at least for Heard, is far from settled.
