Multiple jurors in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard defamation trial dozed off during the drawn-out proceedings, the court stenographer says.
Judy Bellinger observed jurors in both the front and back rows in the courtroom “dozing off” during the six-week trial, she claimed in a new interview with the Law & Crime Network.
“It was tough because there was a lot of video deposition, and they’d just sit there and all of a sudden I’d see their head drop,” Bellinger said.
Depp sued his ex-wife Heard for $50 million over a 2018 op-ed in which Heard described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
The seven-member jury sided with Depp last week, saying the actor should receive $15 million, which was lowered to $10.35 million by the judge because punitive damages are capped in Virginia, where the trial took place.
Heard, who had countersued for $100 million over comments by a Depp attorney painting her allegations as a hoax, was awarded $2 million.
Bellinger said the woman who “probably listened the most” to the trial was chosen as an alternate for the jury.
“She was paying close attention,” Bellinger said. “There were a few jurors that were dozing off. She never, never dozed off.”
Depp, 58, and Heard, 36, both testified for multiple days during the trial and accused the other of abuse. Both stars denied the other’s abuse allegations.
The Hollywood stars married in 2015, and Heard filed for divorce a year later.
A day after the trial, Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft told NBC’s “Today” show that the actress wants to appeal the verdict and believes she has “some excellent grounds” to do so.
———
