After a six-week trial in which Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have broken up over nasty details of their short marriage, both sides told a jury the same Friday: they want to get their lives back.
Key points:
- Actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are suing each other for defamation
- His trial began in April
- The seven-person civil jury began its deliberations on Friday afternoon and will resume on Tuesday
In the final arguments of the defamation trial of Mr. Depp against his ex-wife, Mr. Depp, Camille Vasquez, told the jury that Ms. Heard “ruined [Mr Depp’s] life by falsely telling the world that she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp. “
Meanwhile, Mrs Heard’s lawyers said Depp had ruined her life by launching a smear campaign against Mrs Heard when she divorced him.
“In Mr. Depp’s world, don’t leave Mr. Depp,” said Heard’s attorney, J Benjamin Rottenborn.
“If you do, he will launch a global humiliation campaign against you.”
Depp hopes the trial will help restore his reputation, though it has become a spectacle, revealing a vicious marriage, with broadcast cameras in the courtroom capturing every turn towards an increasingly dazed audience as fans took to social media and lined up overnight. for the coveted court seats.
“This case for Mr. Depp has never been about money,” said his lawyer, Benjamin Chew.
“It’s about Mr Depp’s reputation and his release from the prison where he has lived for the last six years.”
Depp is suing Ms. Heard for $ 50 million ($ 70 million) in the Fairfax County Circuit Court of Virginia for a 2018 opinion piece that Ms. Heard wrote in The Washington Post, describing himself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”
His lawyers say he was defamed by the article, though he never mentioned his name.
The episode is one of several that Heard has described in which he said Depp assaulted her. (AP: Steve Helber)
Ms. Heard filed a $ 100 million counterclaim against the former Pirates of the Caribbean star after her lawyer called her allegations a hoax.
Although the counterclaim has received less attention at trial, Ms. Heard, Elaine Bredehoft, said she offered a way for the jury to compensate Ms. Heard for the abuses that Mr. Depp inflicted on him, even after separating, orchestrating a smear campaign.
“We ask that you finally hold this man accountable,” Bredehoft told the jury.
“He has never accepted responsibility for anything in his life.”
The seven-person civil jury began its deliberations at 3 a.m. Friday, local time, and ended the day about two hours later.
Deliberations will resume on Tuesday.
Depp says he never hit Mrs. Heard and made up allegations of abuse. He said he was the one who was physically attacked by Ms Heard, several times.
“There’s an abuser in this room, but it’s not Mr. Depp,” Vasquez said.
During the trial, Ms. Heard testified about more than a dozen episodes of physical and sexual assault that she said were inflicted on her by Mr. Depp.
Closing of Depp
Mrs. Vasquez, in his closing remarks, noted that Ms. Heard had to review her testimony about the first time she said she was beaten.
Mrs Heard said Depp had hit her after she inadvertently laughed at one of her tattoos.
Initially, Ms Heard said the incident happened in 2013, after a fairy-tale year of courtship and romance, but was later corrected to say it happened in 2012, very soon in her relationship.
“Now, in this room, it’s suddenly erased a whole year of magic,” Vasquez said.
Jurors have seen several photos of Ms. Heard with marks and bruises on her face, but some photos show only a slight redness and others show more severe bruises.
Ms Vasquez accused Ms Heard of manipulating the photos and said evidence that Ms Heard had embellished some of her wounds was proof that all of her allegations of abuse were unfounded.
“Either you believe everything, or nothing,” he said. “Either she’s the victim of horrible and ugly abuse, or she’s a woman willing to say absolutely anything.”
Johnny Depp denies Heard’s allegations of abuse. (AP: Steve Helber)
Heard closes
At the close of Mrs. Heard, Mr. Rottenborn said evidence of abuse by Ms. Heard ignored the fact that there was overwhelming evidence on his behalf and sent a dangerous message to victims of domestic violence.
“If you didn’t take pictures, it didn’t happen,” Mr Rottenborn said. “If you took pictures, they’re fake. If you didn’t tell your friends, you’re lying. If you told your friends, they’re part of the deception.”
And she turned down Ms. Vásquez that, if the jury thought that Mrs. Heard could embellish with a single act of abuse, that they have to ignore everything she says. He said the defamation claim of Mr. Depp must fail if Ms. Heard suffered even a single incident of abuse.
Family and domestic violence support services:
“They’re trying to trick you into thinking Amber has to be perfect to win,” Mr Rottenborn said.
When the jury deliberates, it will need to focus not only on whether there was abuse, but also on whether Ms. Heard’s opinion piece could be considered legally defamatory.
The article itself focuses primarily on political issues of domestic violence, but Mr. Depp pointed out two passages from the article, as well as an online headline that his legal team says he defamed Mr. Depp.
In the first passage, Mrs. Heard writes that “two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse and felt the full force of the wrath of our culture.”
Depp’s lawyers called it a clear reference to Mr. Depp, since Ms. Heard had publicly accused Mr. Depp of domestic violence in 2016, two years before writing the article.
In a second passage, he stated: “I had the very rare point of view to see, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.”
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, arrows up and down for volume. Clock time: 1 minute 49 seconds1m 49s American actor Amber Heard takes the podium to testify against movie star Johnny Depp.
The headline online reads: “Amber Heard: I spoke out against sexual violence and faced the wrath of our culture.”
“She didn’t mention her name. She didn’t have to,” Chew said. “Everyone knew exactly who and what Mrs. Heard was talking about.”
Ms. Heard’s attorneys said Ms. Heard could not be held responsible for the headline because he did not write it, and that the two passages in the article do not talk about the allegations of abuse per se, but about how he changed Ms. Heard’s life after making them. .
Mr. Rottenborn told the jurors that even if they tend to believe Mr. Rottenborn’s claim. Depp, who never abused Ms. Heard, still couldn’t win her case because Ms. Heard. Heard has the right of the First Amendment to intervene in matters of public debate.
AP
Posted 4 hours, 4 hours ago, Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 1:08 am, updated 1 hour, 1 hour ago, Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 4:33 AM