Judge Approves Amber Heard's Request To Keep Juror Identities Sealed After Trial

A judge has approved Amber Heard’s request to seal the identities of the jury members in Johnny Depp’s $50 million defamation case against her.

Judge Penney Azcarate signed off the motion earlier this month, meaning juror identities will be sealed for a year after the trial.

Azcarate’s order, dated 18 May, ruled: “The names of all jurors shall remain sealed for one year following the conclusion of the trial.”

The jury is made up of nine people, with three women and two men overseeing the Fairfax trial.

Alamy

Azcarate did not explain the decision behind her ruling, but reporting on the story, the New York Post notes that one of Depp’s lawyers scrawled on the judge’s order, suggesting Depp’s diehard fans were behind the decision. 

Depp’s lawyer wrote: “Agreed as to the proposed relief but objecting to and not agreeing to [the] characterizations as to Mr. Depp’s interactions with his fans, etc.”

Heard claimed she receives 'hundreds of death threats regularly, if not daily, thousands since this trial has started'.

She testified that she 'can't have people associate with her' because of the threats.

"Johnny threatened, promised, promised me, that if I ever left him he'd make me think of him every single day that I lived," she said.

UNILAD has approached representatives for Heard and Depp for comment. 

Alamy

On Thursday (26 May) Heard and Depp’s legal teams both rested their cases in the trial.

Depp is suing his ex-wife over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed she wrote, in which he claims she defamed him by suggesting he was abusive towards her, despite the actress never mentioning him by name. 

Heard has now countersued for $100 million (£793,780), claiming Depp has defamed her and characterised her abuse allegations as a hoax.

The six-week trial began on 11 April and has seen multiple witnesses take to the stand at Circuit Court in Fairfax County.

Depp testified he has never hit Heard nor 'any woman in [his] life' during the trial, while Heard admitted to striking the Pirates of the Caribbean star on multiple occasions, but insisted it was only to 'defend [her]self'.

When the jury goes into deliberation on 27 May, jurors must decide: “Did Amber Heard defame Johnny Depp in a 2018 op-ed article for The Washington Post?”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247