The court docket stenographer within the Johnny Depp defamation lawsuit towards the actor’s ex-wife Amber Heard stated she witnessed a number of members of the jury “dozing off” throughout court docket proceedings.
In an interview with Legislation & Crime Community, Judy Bellinger stated 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 lots of video deposition,” Bellinger stated within the interview.
Each Depp and Heard known as over a dozen witnesses every, lots of whom testified through net video or pre-recorded depositions. Bellinger appeared to indicate that these testimonies had been usually tougher to concentrate to than witnesses who spoke dwell in court docket.
Learn extra:
Amber Heard lawyer claims Johnny Depp ‘demonized’ ex-wife, suppressed proof in defamation trial
Bellinger stated that when she noticed the seven-person jury, she would often see sure members’ “head drop,” as if sleeping.
In any other case, she stated the jury was “very intent” and “listening intently” in the course of the trial.
Actor Johnny Depp chats with the court docket 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 essentially the most,” she stated. “I watched her facial expressions. She was very deeply into each phrase that was being stated. I assumed she would’ve made an important juror however she didn’t get to see it to the tip.”
Bellinger continued, claiming the alternate jury member “was paying shut consideration” and “by no means dozed off.”
Learn extra:
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 actual fact 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 attributable to 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 known 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 glorious grounds for it.” She stated Heard is “completely not” in a position to pay the $10-million judgment.
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