Amber Heard, a ctor, gave her last testimony on Thursday in the Johnny Depp defamation case. This was the final day of the courtroom proceedings that saw six weeks.
Heard was sued by Depp for $50 Million in connection to an 2018 Washington case Post Heard’s op-ed published in which Heard accused her former partner of domestic violence. Heard sued Depp for $100 Million in an immediately high-profile matter.
Earlier in the day’s proceedings, Depp’s legal team introduced its last expert witness, and Heard’s legal team introduced two rebuttal witnesses. Heard then testified that the public nature of the trial has been “agonizing” in a way that echoed the alleged domestic abuse from Depp.
“I am harassed, humiliated, threatened every single day. Even just walking into this courtroom, sitting here in front of the world, having the worst parts of my life—things that I’ve lived through—used to humiliate me,” Heard told the court. “People want to kill me and they tell me so every day. People want to put my baby in the microwave and they tell me that.”
In response to further questions from her attorney about the effects her marriage to Depp has had on her since their relationship ended, Heard said she has to “relive the trauma” every day.
“My hands shake, I wake up screaming,” Heard said. “I have to live with the trauma and the damage done to me.” She then said that people in her life such as her friends and intimate partners have to live by unspoken rules of how to interact with her without surprising her or creating a triggering event that could cause a panic attack.
Depp’s attorney, Camille Vasquez, cross-examined Heard, and rehashed a few points in Heard’s previous testimonies that Depp’s team later called on witnesses to contradict. Heard claimed that Heard had tipped off TMZ in 2016 when she applied for a restraining or against Depp. Heard denied knowing that the media would be present and suggested that Heard fabricated a bruise on her face.
Vasquez also raised questions about Heard’s inability to identify the date for a photograph of wine being spilled on a flooring that was present.
“It’s easy to not know the context of a picture of spilled wine, because there are so many more important details, pictures, and also so much I didn’t photograph,” Heard said.
Vasquez asked Heard if she believed that witnesses like a TMZ reporter had been lying to Depp.
“I know how many people will come out and say whatever for [Depp]. That’s his power,” Heard said. “That’s why I wrote the op-ed—I was speaking to that phenomenon. He will be supported by many and his power will rise. People love to curry favor with powerful men. He’s a powerful man. And I know that first hand, I’ve lived it.”
When the trial began in the morning, Depp’s team of lawyers first called orthopedic surgeon Dr. Richard Gilbert to the stand. There, he said he had examined medical records, testimonies, and depositions related to an injury to Depp’s finger that had been discussed earlier in the trial.
Depp previously claimed that Heard had thrown a vodka container at him and that it exploded, crushing his finger against a bar of marble. The bone was then broken and amputated from the tip. Heard’s legal team had said she did not know how he injured his finger, and suggested it might have occurred when he allegedly punched a landline phone into a wall.
With x-rays of the finger shown in the court, Gilbert said that Depp’s account was plausible and consistent with the injury sustained.
“A vodka bottle, which is a hard object, would have crushed the tip of the finger resulting in the comminuted fracture. And in addition, as the vodka bottle broke, the glass would have lacerated the finger resulting in the soft tissue loss that was also seen with this injury,” Gilbert said. He disagreed with the doctor Heard’s team had used as an expert witness, who had said Depp’s finger sustained a pinching type of injury, rather than cutting from glass, because he thought the lacerations were too clean.
Heard’s team called Julian Ackert, a computer forensics expert, to the stand as their first rebuttal witness. Ackert said he had examined the metadata for photos of Heard’s injuries and concluded that they were “authentic, original photographs,” contradicting the findings of one of Depp’s witnesses.
Thursday will see the closing arguments of both Depp’s and Heard’s lawyers. The jury will be given instructions by the judge about how to proceed.
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