The gloves came out in the aggravated defamation case between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard, as both parties had one last chance to influence the jury.
The case of defamation of the American actor Johnny Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard is now in the hands of the jurors who have started deliberations after hearing explosive final arguments in court.
Attorneys for Depp, 58, and Heard, 36, filed their final appeals with the jury Friday, local time, after tens of hours of testimony and six weeks of mutual domestic violence charges. among the celebrity couple in Fairfax County Court. Virginia.
Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, took a savage last blow by claiming the Aquaman the actress had no friends.
“You may have noticed that no one showed up at Ms. Heard’s in this room except her sister,” Vasquez said.
“All the other witnesses who traveled to Virginia for her were a paid expert.
“This is a woman who burns bridges. Her close friends don’t show up for her.”
Ms. Vasquez then gave Heard another brutal blow, responding to his lawyers’ claims that all of Depp’s witnesses who testified in the case were “on his payroll” and were too scared to go against him.
“Kate Moss is definitely not on Mr. Depp’s payroll,” Vasquez said, referring to the explosive testimony of the British supermodel this week that dispelled a rumor that Depp pushed her down a flight of stairs.
Depp’s team painted him as a victim of what they say are Heard’s false allegations of physical, sexual and psychological abuse, which have destroyed his career and reputation.
Heard is said to be a “deeply troubled person” who sought revenge when Depp provoked his deepest “fear of abandonment” and “split” during the discussions.
In stark contrast, Heard’s lawyer, Benjamin Rottenborn, said Depp was “a monster” who not only abused his ex-wife, but continued an ongoing smear campaign after Heard filed for divorce. “In Mr. Depp’s world, don’t abandon Mr. Depp,” he said. “If you do, he will launch a global humiliation campaign against you.”
Vásquez first presented his final argument, telling the jury that Heard had “garnered a horror story” based on “wild, exaggerated, and unlikely” allegations of physical and sexual abuse against Depp.
“Either you believe it all or nothing,” Ms. Vasquez told the jury Friday morning.
“Either Mrs Heard was sexually assaulted (by Depp) with a bottle in Australia … or she ‘s a woman who is willing to say anything.
“What Mrs. Heard testified in this room is a story of too many women, but what shows the weight of the evidence is that it is not Mrs. Heard’s story.”
Vasquez called Heard’s allegations “false” and “defamatory,” adding that they had caused “irreparable harm” to Depp and “ruined his life.”
He criticized Heard for his “acting” in court, alleging that the star used his acting experience to interpret “the role of his life as a heroic survivor of brutal abuse.”
Vasquez told jurors that during the six-week trial, they saw Heard “crying without tears as he turned elaborate, exaggerated and fantastic statements” of domestic abuse.
“It was a performance,” he added.
“She told you what she thinks you should hear to condemn this man as a domestic abuser and rapist.”
The lawyer argued that the evidence presented by Heartd’s legal team “does not confirm” that the actress has been abused “countless times”, including the fact that there are no medical records documenting her alleged injuries.
“There’s nothing,” Vasquez said.
Why Depp could lose the case
Heard’s lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, began his final argument by reminding the jury that the burden of proof was on Depp and that he had to prove that all the abuse cases Heard had accused him of were false. He noted that it must also be shown that the allegations were made by Heard maliciously for Depp to win the civil case.
“If Amber was abused by Mr. Depp even once, then she wins,” Rottenborn said.
“We’re not just talking about physical abuse, we’re talking about emotional, physical, economic and sexual abuse.”
While Depp appears to have overwhelming public support, his team has a high bar to reach to meet the requirements to prove defamation and win the case.
“It’s not about who’s the best spouse,” Mr. Rottenborn said.
“It ‘s not about whether you think Ms Heard may have been abusive with Mr Depp.
“If you think they both insulted each other … then Amber wins.”
“In the Heart and Mind of America’s Favorite Pirate”
Rottenborn noted text messages previously shown in court where Depp had written that he wanted to “fuck after burning (Corp.’s) corpse” and another in which he claimed he was “calling for global humiliation.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, those words are a window into the heart and mind of America’s favorite pirate,” Rottenborn said of Depp’s vulgar text messages about her.
“This is the real Johnny Depp.”
Heard appeared to be fighting back tears and could be seen breathing deeply as her lawyer guided the jury through the many cases in which she was allegedly abused.
“A ruling against Amber here sends the message that no matter what you do as a victim of abuse, you should always do more,” Rottenborn said.
“No matter what you document, you always have to document yourself more. No matter who you tell, you always have to tell more people. No matter how honest you are about your own imperfections and shortcomings in a relationship, you have to be perfect for people to believe you. Do not send this message “.
“The real Amber Heard is scary”
Another of Depp’s lawyers, Benjamin Chew, closed his team’s final arguments.
“Now you’ve gotten to know the real Amber Heard – it’s scary,” he began.
“Before Amber Heard, no woman ever claimed that Mr Depp raised his hand, in his 58th year … (nor) has any woman come since.
“This is ‘MeToo’ without ‘MeToo’.”
Chew listed some of Depp’s previous girlfriends, such as British supermodel Kate Moss, American actor Winona Ryder and the mother of her children, Vanessa Paradis, with whom she shared a 14-year relationship.
He said none of these women had ever publicly accused Depp of violence against them and further highlighted the testimony of Mrs Moss who defended Depp.
Chew insisted that his client has “stoically” brought serious allegations against him for six years and filed the lawsuit to tell the truth and clear his name, even though he knew the process would be embarrassing.
Judge Penney Azcarate turned the case over to a seven-person jury on Friday afternoon.
“You must not base your verdict in any way on sympathy, partial conjecture or speculation,” Judge Azcarate said while giving deliberation instructions to jurors Friday morning.
“Your verdict should be based solely on the evidence and instructions of the court. Your verdict should be based on the facts as you find them and the law you find in all such instructions.”
The panel will stop on the weekend and Monday, a U.S. holiday, and resume deliberations on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a source close to Heard accused Depp’s team of “trying to divert the jury’s attention to look at sensational and salty things, anything but what this case is about: freedom of speech.”
“We hope the jury is not distracted by the noise and nonsense,” the source said in a statement provided Friday to news.com.au by Heard’s representatives.
Depp filed a lawsuit against Heard for an opinion piece for which he wrote The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.
Depp, 36, during his four days in the witness stand, denied having physically assaulted Heard and claimed she was the one who was often violent.
Heard, who played a starring role in Aquaman, did not name Depp in the article, but sued her to make it appear that he was a domestic aggressor and is seeking $ 50 million ($ 72 million) in damages.
Texas-born Heard filed a $ 100 million ($ 144 million) lawsuit accusing him of orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.” “.
The counterclaim alleges that Depp’s then-lawyer, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard when he described his allegations of abuse as misleading.
Depp filed a defamation suit in the United States after losing a defamation case in London in November 2020, which he filed against The Sun newspaper for calling her a “women’s hitter.”
Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, and Heard met in 2009 on the set of The diary of rum and they married in February 2015. Their divorce took place two years later.