It looks like Amber Heard won't be getting a retrial against her ex-husband Johnny Depp.
The Aquaman star's request for a retrial has been denied by a judge after she sought to have the original verdict thrown out.
After the celebrity exes spent weeks battling it out in the courtroom, jurors came to the conclusion last month that Heard had in fact defamed her former spouse when she claimed to be a victim of domestic abuse. Depp was awarded over $8 million by the jury, and his fans have since touted his victory as proof that he was the real victim of their volatile marriage.
However, Heard has not taken her defeat lying down, and she and her legal team have continued to challenge the ruling.
Per MailOnline, they submitted a 48-page filing earlier this month requesting that the judgment be set aside or a new trial ordered on the basis that the original case "proceeded solely on a defamation by implication theory, abandoning any claims that Ms. Heard's statements were actually false."
In the court document, Heard's team also cited the issue of Juror 15 - who was allegedly not vetted properly - as grounds for a retrial. The juror in question responded to a jury summons intended for his father, who shares the same name and address.
"The court cannot assume, as Mr Depp asks it to, that Juror 15’s apparently improper service was an innocent mistake. It could have been an intentional attempt to serve on the jury of a high-profile case," Heard's lawyers wrote in the filing.
However, their arguments were not sufficient to convince Judge Penney Azcarate - who presided over the trial earlier this year - to reopen the case.
In a written order yesterday (July 13), Judge Azcarate rejected their request for a retrial, noting that the complaint over Juror 15 was irrelevant.
"The juror was vetted, sat for the entire jury, deliberated, and reached a verdict," said Azcarate, adding: "The only evidence before this court is that this juror and all jurors followed their oaths, the court’s instructions, and orders. This court is bound by the competent decision of the jury."
Heard can still appeal the verdict at the Virginia Court of Appeals.
