ALLEGATIONS

Johnny Depp-Amber Heard Stenographer Says Jurors Were ‘Dozing Off’

Court stenography Judy Bellinger alleges that the most attentive juror in the case turned out to be an alternate who never got to weigh in for the final verdict.

In the wake of last week’s verdict in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, court stenographer Judy Bellinger has alleged that some of the jurors struggled to stay awake during the proceedings. “There were a few jurors dozing off,” Bellinger told the Law & Crime network during a recent interview. “It was tough because there was a lot of video deposition. They’d just sit there and all of a sudden I’d see their head drop.” The most attentive juror, she added, actually turned out to be an alternate who did not weigh in on the final verdict. Last week, the jury in Fairfax County, Virginia, found Depp and Heard liable for defaming one another—Heard in a Washington Post op-ed that did not mention her ex-husband by name but described her as an advocate representing survivors of domestic abuse, and Depp for an assertion from his lawyer, who once called Heard’s allegations a “hoax.” Depp has denied abusing Heard and alleged that she was the abusive one in the relationship. In a statement responding to last week’s verdict, Depp said the jury “gave me my life back.” Heard, meanwhile, said in her own statement that her disappointment was “beyond words.”