"She kept making eye contact with me": Juror in Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial speaks out in viral video 

The juror admits to feeling "uncomfortable" with Amber Heard's constant eye contact (Image via Getty Images)
The juror admits to feeling "uncomfortable" with Amber Heard's constant eye contact (Image via Getty Images)

The seven-member jury announced their verdict for the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp defamation trial on May 31, 2022. It was found that the Aquaman actress defamed her ex-husband and actor Depp in three separate statements in the op-ed piece. Additionally, it has been found that the 58-year-old actor had also defamed Heard through one of the statements made by his attorney.

The jury awarded the Pirates of the Caribbean actor $10 million in compensatory damages and five million dollars in punitive damages. Amber Heard was also awarded two million dollars in compensatory damages.

As the sensationalized defamation trial took gained attention worldwide, many shocking details regarding the former couple’s tumultuous relationship were made public. However, one aspect regarding the trial was kept private, which was the name of the jurors.

The Fairfax, Virginia court announced that they would not be releasing the name of the panel. However, jurors were allowed to voluntarily identify themselves.

A TikTok user who claimed to be one of the jury members took to the social media platform to give his perspective on the defamation trial. He wished to remain anonymous due to the gravitas of the situation. YouTuber Joseph Morris shared the TikToker's video on his channel in which the alleged juror claimed:

“So today was my last day of being a juror on the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial and I wish to remain anonymous and to give incite and thoughts about the trial. I don’t follow pop culture too much, so I hadn’t really been a fan of Johnny Depp or Amber Heard so I was able to be pretty unbiased about the whole thing."

He added that Amber Heard’s testimony “just seemed so off” from the beginning. He continued:

“She kept making eye contact with me and it made me extremely uncomfortable to where I would no longer look at her when she was giving her answers. I would just listen intently and everything she was saying came off like bull s**t. And I wasn’t following anything on TikTok during the whole trial and I was going through after the trial and blows my mind how every single person seemed to be commenting on how weird it was. So good news for Johnny Depp.”

Those interested can watch the TikTok in the video below. The topic begins at 3:33.

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Why was Amber Heard making intense eye contact with the jurors?

Experts revealed that it was a method Heard was using to “humanize” herself. Expert Judi James stated that the 36-year-old was attempting to establish an “emotional bond” with the members of the panel.

James told a news publication:

“The effect would be to 'humanize' herself to the jury rather than isolating herself as a celebrity who they will presumably have been hearing negative comments about.”

In an interview with Fox News Digital, behavior specialist Susan Constantine-Perfido said that her legal team must have “coached” her to make eye contact with the jury. However, the same can backfire against her as well as it could make the jury feel “uncomfortable.” Constantine-Perfido said:

“This can be good, and it also can backfire. Too much eye contact can make jurors feel uncomfortable and make them feel their objectivity and neutrality could be questioned.”

Heard was sued by her ex-husband and actor Johnny Depp after she wrote an op-ed piece in December 2018 for The Washington Post where she claimed to be a victim of domestic violence. Although Depp was not named in the article, his attorneys argued that the insinuation took a toll on his career. Subsequently, Depp sued her for $50 million. Amber Heard struck back with a countersuit of $100 million.

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Edited by Sayati Das