The courtroom stenographer within the Johnny Depp defamation lawsuit towards the actor’s ex-wife Amber Heard mentioned she witnessed a number of members of the jury “dozing off” throughout courtroom proceedings.
In an interview with Legislation & Crime Community, Judy Bellinger mentioned that at factors all through the six-week trial, jurors in each the back and front rows had been falling asleep.
“It was powerful as a result of there was a variety of video deposition,” Bellinger mentioned within the interview.
Each Depp and Heard referred to as over a dozen witnesses every, a lot of whom testified by way of internet video or pre-recorded depositions. Bellinger appeared to indicate that these testimonies had been usually more durable to concentrate to than witnesses who spoke reside in courtroom.
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Amber Heard lawyer claims Johnny Depp ‘demonized’ ex-wife, suppressed proof in defamation trial
Bellinger mentioned that when she noticed the seven-person jury, she would sometimes see sure members’ “head drop,” as if sleeping.
In any other case, she mentioned the jury was “very intent” and “listening intently” through the trial.
Actor Johnny Depp chats with the courtroom stenographer throughout a break amid his defamation trial towards his ex-wife Amber Heard, on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., April 27, 2022.
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She additionally spoke of an alternate jury member who didn’t be part of the jury for deliberations, however who Bellinger claimed was extra enthusiastic than the remaining.
“The one alternate was most likely the one which listened probably the most,” she mentioned. “I watched her facial expressions. She was very deeply into each phrase that was being mentioned. I believed she would’ve made an ideal juror however she didn’t get to see it to the top.”
Bellinger continued, claiming the alternate jury member “was paying shut consideration” and “by no means dozed off.”
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Jury returns verdict in favour of Johnny Depp in defamation trial with Amber Heard
On June 1, a jury in Fairfax, Va., dominated in favour of Depp, 58, deciding he had in reality been defamed by Heard, 36, on three counts, awarding him US$15 million in damages. This quantity was later diminished by the decide to $10.35 million as a result of state legislation.
Heard was additionally awarded a partial win, receiving $2 million on a declare that Depp’s former lawyer and press agent defamed her when he referred to as her home abuse allegations towards the Pirates of the Caribbean actor “an abuse hoax” designed to capitalize on the #MeToo motion.
Final week, Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Charlson Bredehoft, claimed the Aquaman actor could be interesting the decision from this trial, including that she “has some wonderful grounds for it.” She mentioned Heard is “completely not” in a position to pay the $10-million judgment.
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