Photograph by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/POOL/AFP through Getty Photographs
Cross examination of Amber Heard in her ongoing civil defamation battle with Johnny Depp rapidly obtained ugly on Tuesday when his attorneys went after the actress over the allegation that Depp sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle in 2015.
“You weren't frightened of him in any respect have been you?” Camille Vasquez, one among Depp’s attorneys, prodded Heard on her fourth day on the stand in Fairfax County, Virginia, courtroom.
Seemingly frazzled however defiant, Heard turned to the jury and insisted that she was the truth is petrified of her then-husband, who she has mentioned penetrated her vagina with the bottle throughout an incident in Australia.
“This can be a man who tried to kill me, after all it’s scary. He’s additionally my husband,” Heard mentioned, later including: “Johnny will not be an correct historian of what occurred throughout that time period, I’ll assure you that.”
The alternate virtually instantly prompted an objection from Heard’s authorized group earlier than Vasquez requested for a prolonged sidebar to privately communicate to the decide.
Though each Depp and Heard have pointed to the 2015 combat as one of many extra harrowing cases of alleged abuse throughout their disastrous relationship, the celebrities have supplied jurors vastly completely different variations of what truly transpired.
One factor the pair, who had moved to Australia quickly whereas Depp filmed Pirates of the Caribbean: Useless Males Inform No Tales, do agree on: that the March 2015 argument obtained violent.
However whereas Depp says Heard hurled a bottle of vodka at him that severed his finger tip, the actress says her ex-husband bodily abused her earlier than repeatedly penetrating her with a bottle after a three-day bender.
“The subsequent factor I bear in mind, I used to be bent over backwards on the bar,” Heard beforehand mentioned on the stand. “I believed he was punching me, I felt this stress on my pubic bone...I bear in mind trying across the room. I bear in mind all of the damaged bottles, damaged glass, and I bear in mind simply not wanting to maneuver as a result of I didn’t know if it was damaged or if the bottle he had within me was damaged. I couldn’t really feel it, I didn’t really feel ache, I didn’t really feel something...I simply bear in mind considering, ‘Please God, please I hope it’s not damaged.’”
Depp has sued Heard for $50 million, alleging that she “devastated” his profession when she described herself as a home violence survivor in a 2018 Washington Publish op-ed, two years after she sought a restraining order in opposition to him. Heard’s authorized group has famous that she didn't title Depp nor focus on her marriage within the piece. However jurors should determine whether or not she both knew what she wrote was false, or else had reckless disregard for the reality.
Jurors are additionally listening to claims from Heard’s counter-lawsuit for $100 million, which claims defamation after not less than one among Depp’s ex-attorneys prompt her account of being abused was a “hoax.”
On Tuesday, Depp’s lawyer wasted no time making an attempt to poke holes in what may be essentially the most horrific allegation of sexual violence leveled by the actress.
“You’re the one who assaulted somebody with a bottle in Australia, Ms. Heard,” Vasquez pressed.
“I didn’t assault Johnny in Australia. I didn’t assault Johnny ever,” Heard responded whereas trying on the jury.
Vasquez continued to grill Heard in regards to the sequence of occasions that evening, despite the fact that the actress insisted she didn't bear in mind the exact timeline of what occurred. Heard mentioned she “by no means claimed that I can bear in mind the precise sequence,” and that this was a “multi-day assault that befell over three horrible days.”
For his half, Depp has claimed that throughout the argument, a “possessed” Heard walked as much as him and “reached and grabbed the bottle of vodka after which simply form of stood again and hurled it at me” earlier than grabbing one other bottle that “made contact” with him.
"I didn’t really feel the ache at first—what I felt was warmth and one thing dripping down my hand. I seemed down and realized that the tip of my finger had been severed,” Depp beforehand mentioned on the stand. “I used to be trying instantly at my bones protruding and the meaty portion… blood was pouring out.”
Depp, who known as himself a home violence survivor in courtroom, admitted that he known as his physician and advised him, “You would possibly need to come over, I’ve minimize my finger off right here.” He additionally admitted to writing messages about Heard on partitions and mirrors along with his blood and paint—and that he lied to medical doctors on the emergency room about how he sustained the damage to guard his ex-wife.
Audio beforehand performed in courtroom could have dented Depp’s account, as he could possibly be heard apparently referring to reducing his personal finger off.
In a sequence of brief questions, Vasquez requested Heard why, despite the fact that she mentioned she sustained cuts to her forearms and ft and “had a bruise throughout your jaw,” the actress didn't search medical therapy after the combat herself.
“And there may be not a single medical file reflecting therapy for any of these accidents, is there Ms Heard?” Vasquez inquired.
“I didn’t search therapy,” Heard agreed.