The courts reporter, Judy Bellinger said “there were a few jurors who were dozing off,” during the proceedings.
Being a juror on the most talked about court case in recent years obviously wasn’t interesting enough for members of the jury in the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation case, with the court stenographer revealing that a ‘few’ jurors fell asleep during proceedings.
Questions have already been asked about the integrity of the jury – particularly the fact that they were not sequestered during the trial and could see the public’s social media opinions – meaning this could give Amber Heard further grounds to appeal the verdict.
“There were a few jurors who were dozing off,” Bellinger revealed. “And it was tough. There were a lot of video deposition, and they would just sit there and all of a sudden I’d see their head drop.”
Depp and Heard, respectively, were found liable of defamation and received a payout that the jury saw suitable from the 6 week trial. Depp received $15 million and Heard, $2 million.
Though, one of the alleged jurors who remained anonymous as he posted a TikTok video, detailed what led him to his decision. Detailing reasons including her eye contact which made the juror “extremely uncomfortable; to where I would no longer look over at her while she gave her answers.”
Despite the reaction and response since the verdict, it remains unclear if there’ll be an appeal. For Heard to appeal, she’ll need to have the funds now asked of her from the recent trial. Her attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, was asked while on the Today Show if Heard is able to pay the fee, to which she replied: “Oh no, absolutely not.”
