Is there a twist in the tale?

The drama surrounding Johnny Depp’s multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife and Aquaman star Amber Heard refuses to die. Things have turned weird, as a wrong juror took the chair during the legal proceedings.

A partially redacted new filing by the Aquaman star’s legal team read: “Ms. Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection, as prescribed by the Virginia Code, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty. In this case, it appears that Juror No. 15 was not, in fact, the same individual as listed on the jury panel,” attorney Elaine Bredehoft added in language similar to a previous filing of June 24.

“Ms. Heard’s due process was therefore compromised. Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered.”

Unlike the previous motion and memorandum placed in the Fairfax County courthouse docket late last month to dismiss the June 1 verdict and allow a new trial, today’s supplemental memo has a lot more details on what could snatch victory from Depp in his long legal battle with his ex-wife.

According to the redacted filing, the summon for jury duty was sent out to a Virginia resident in April for the much-delayed $15 million defamation action Depp had set off in March 2019 against Heard for a 2018 ‘Washington Post’ op-ed she penned on being the ‘public face’ of domestic abuse. Heard’s defence team now wants an explanation. — IANS