UPDATE: Johnny Depp’s lawyer told jurors that Amber Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse make no sense since the actor has not been charged with any other assault.
“Before Amber Heard, no woman ever claimed that Mr. Depp raised her hand at the age of 58,” lawyer Benjamin Chew told jurors, noting that no woman since Heard has filed complaints.
“This is MeToo without any MeToo.”
He said Depp supported the MeToo movement, but argued that the movement was for the “true survivors of abuse.”
“Mr. Depp was fired because Miss Heard falsely accused him of domestic violence, “Chew said.
In his argument, Chew also said that Depp “is no saint.” “He owns his flaws, he admits them, but he’s not a violent abuser,” he said.
Depp admitted to drug addiction, but Chew said “there is a world of difference between having substance abuse problems and being a physical abuser.”
Earlier in the final argument of Depp’s team, another of Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vasquez, argued that it was the actor, not Amber Heard, who was the victim of “persistent verbal, emotional and physical abuse.” .
“There’s a victim of domestic abuse in this room, and it’s not Miss Heard,” Vásquez told the jury.
Vásquez noted that Friday marks six years since Heard went to court to obtain a restraining order against domestic violence against Depp, following a discussion in his downtown Los Angeles penthouse.
But Vásquez described the court scene as “an organization,” alleging that Heard orchestrated press coverage to make sure photographers would be there to take pictures of his bruised face. She claimed Depp hit her with a phone. But Vasquez suggested that Heard staged her wounds and that “the world only saw what she wanted them to see.”
“Six years later, exactly, we ask you to bring Mr. Depp back to life,” Vasquez said.
When Heard filed for divorce that same month six years ago, Vasquez said, he didn’t just want his marriage dissolved, “I wanted to ruin it.”
Vasquez played audio clips of Heard during discussions with Depp, in which she is heard laughing and mocking her husband.
Vásquez said “it’s Miss Heard who repeatedly admits to the violence,” he said, referring to an audio recording in which Heard spoke of beating Depp. By contrast, Vasquez said, Depp never admitted any physical violence against Heard.
Depp sued Heard for $ 50 million during a December 2018 comment in the Washington Post in which he wrote that “two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse and felt the full force of the anger of our culture for women to speak clearly. ” Heard sued for $ 100 million for allegations that she fabricated her allegations of abuse.
Before the oral argument began, Judge Penney Azcarate instructed the jury on the process for reaching a verdict, reflecting the high bar that each side has to prove their case. In Depp’s case, the jury must consider three statements Heard made in the Washington Post’s opinion poll and, in each case, whether his side has demonstrated seven elements. They include whether the statements refer to Depp, whether they are defamatory, whether they are false, and whether they show actual malice.
Heard faces a similar burden of proof and the jury must decide whether his attorneys have shown five different elements. They will consider three different statements, including those made by Adam Waldman, alleging that Heard’s allegations of abuse were misleading. They must also determine whether Waldman acted as Depp’s agent.
Depp and Heard were all present in the room for the final arguments.
Chew said the Washington Post was clearly talking about Depp. and that Heard was “exchanging allegations of abuse” against him for a new role as the ACLU’s ambassador for domestic violence. He said the publisher’s impact had a clear impact on Depp’s reputation, citing USA Today’s coverage of the trial which referred to Heard’s previous allegations against him.
Vásquez cast Heard as a manipulative figure and cited testimony about the actress’ emotional and mental state. He called Heard a “deeply troubled person” who longed for attention.
Vásquez even suggested that when Heard was on the witness stand, he feigned some of his most emotional moments, claiming that even when the actress was crying, there were no tears. Vásquez cited the testimony of an acting coach who said Heard had a hard time faking these bursts of filling.
“It was a performance,” Vasquez said of Heard’s testimony.
Vásquez noted that there were no medical records of Heard’s allegations of physical abuse.
Vasquez examined what he characterized as inconsistencies in Heard’s claims, reviewing his specific allegations of abuse. He showed the jury photos of Heard, cheerful and jovial, taken on December 15, 2015, when he appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Heard claimed that just before that appearance, Depp had physically abused her, hit her and pulled a bouquet from her hair. “They are [the Corden photos] according to the brutal assault and grievous bodily harm of which Miss Heard testified? Vasquez asked the jury.
He also showed side-by-side photos of Heard taken on May 21, 2016. That was the night Depp and Heard had the argument that finally led to the end of their marriage. One of the photos showed Heard with a redness on her face, which she said was due to Depp hitting her with a phone. The other did not show red. Vásquez challenged Heard’s claim that they were two separate photos, the difference being that one light was lit in one, noting that “they were made at exactly the same time and had the same file.”
“You can’t trust these photos,” he said.
Vásquez said what Heart’s side showed was a “mountain of unproven allegations.”
“Either she’s the victim of a truly horrible abuse or she’s a woman willing to say absolutely anything,” she said.