- Jurors dramatically found Johnny Depp victorious in his libel action against Amber Heard.
- The seven jurors' names will be sealed for a year after a judge granted Heard's request in May.
- Depp in a statement thanked the jury for giving him his "life back."
Seven jurors were behind the striking conclusion to Johnny Depp's lawsuit against Amber Heard — but their identities won't be known for at least a year.
Five men and two women formed the panel in the intense and ugly defamation trial, which ended in Amber Heard being found to have defamed Depp three times.
The jury also found that Depp had defamed Heard, granting one of her three counterclaims.
Before they made their decision, the court agreed to a request by Heard to seal their names.
Judge Penney Azcarate of the Fairfax County Circuit Court ordered that the jurors be anonymous for 12 months after the conclusion of the trial, according to documents dated May 16 and 18.
The trial reached its conclusion on Wednesday, with the jurors finding both Depp and Heard liable for defamation against each other. They awarded Depp $15 million in damages and Heard $2 million in compensatory damages.
Heard's initial request for the jurors' privacy is not publicly available. The document granting it does not say why the decision was made.
However, a handwritten note on a court order document, dated May 16, provides some vague context. "Agreed as to the proposed relief but objecting to and not agreeing to characterizations as to Mr. Depp's interactions with his fans, etc.," wrote one of Depp's lawyers.
A Depp lawyer wrote in another document, dated May 18, that the court order was "agreed only excepting some characterizations in defendant's motion to which plaintiff objects."
The jurors, whose identities won't be disclosed until at least June 2023, reached their verdict after six weeks of trial testimony and less than three days of deliberation.
The jurors initially failed to fill out the sections of the verdict form specifying damages which resulted in Azcarate sending them back into the deliberation room.
The jury reemerged, minutes later, with their final verdict.
In a statement, Heard called the jury decision "a setback" to "a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated." She plans to appeal the verdict, The New York Times reported.
Depp said in a statement: "The jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled."