A judge rejected the argument of his lawyers that one of the jurors had acted improperly.
In June, Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10.35 million in damages after a jury ruled that he had defamed the star. Pirates of the Caribbean In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post.
Their Lawyers asked the judge in the case to annul the decision and declare the trial null and void.arguing that one of the jurors in the case should have been ineligible because his subpoena was intended for his father, who had the same name and lived at the same address.
The judge Penny Azcarate ruled that there was “no evidence of fraud or misconduct” by the juror and that the verdict should stand. He also noted that both sides had cross-examined and accepted all jurors at the start of the trial.
“Due process was guaranteed and provided to all parties to this litigation,” Azcarate wrote.
Depp, 59, sued Heard and he argued that he had defamed him when she called herself “a public figure representing domestic abuse” in an op-ed published in Washington Post. The actor denied hitting Heard, 36, and said it was she who became violent in her relationship.
Heard countersued, saying Depp brought her into disrepute when her lawyer called her accusations “jokes.” The jury awarded Heard $2 million in damages in one of her counterclaims.