– Heard is a person with big problems, says Depp’s lawyer during the last day of the trial. Heard’s defender believes that Depp does as he has always done: Blames others, and refuses to take responsibility for his own actions.
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It is nearing the end of one of history’s most talked about trials.
Actor Johnny Depp has sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for damaging his reputation and hanging him out as an abuser.
Heard has filed a counterclaim, claiming that Depp and his former lawyer have defamed her by accusing her of lying, thus ruining her career.
He demands around 475 million kroner from her. She demands twice as much from him.
Along the way, Heard has accused Depp of being violent towards her, and that sexual violence has been among the assaults.
From a legal point of view, however, both lawsuits are only about defamation. The accusations about who did what are primarily presented to substantiate.
During the six weeks of the trial, Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez has gradually received a lot of attention – and it will hardly decrease after the final procedure she delivered this afternoon.
There she describes Heard as a person with big problems.
– She can be charming, Vasquez points out – but quickly adds that Heard is also aggressive, violent and vicious.
– The real Heard
Along the way, Vasquez plays several of the audio recordings that have been presented as evidence in the case. Among other things, footage where Heard admits to having beaten Depp and says things like “you’re such a kid, grow up for hell, Johnny”.
– This is the real Heard. Not the one you’ve seen here in the courtroom, the lawyer thunders.
Heard’s lawyer Ben Rottenborn strikes back in his final proceedings, by attacking the Depp side’s methods.
– Where it is that if you do not have a picture, it did not happen, he says sarcastically.
– If you tell people, it’s a lie. If you document damages, it is false, the lawyer continues.
–Rottenborn further believes that one does not leave Depp unpunished – and that Heard has now been hanged for the whole world, as a result of the decision she made.
– This whole case is about accusing Amber Heard of things she has not done. But that’s what Mr Depp does, that’s what he’s always done – blame other people and refuse to take responsibility himself. The problem for him here is that he is on a collision course with the American Constitution, which says that you can not hold Heard responsible for words she neither wrote nor published, says Rottenborn, and reminds of the legal starting point of the case: Heard’s column on abuse in the Washington Post from 2018.
Rottenborn also claims that witnesses who have spoken for Depp and are on his payroll have little value – because they know what will happen if they oppose Depp.
He reminds that abuse does not necessarily have to be physical – and that Heard must win the case and Depp lose if the jury finds a single case of abuse from Depp’s side proven.
In his proceedings, Vasquez states:
– There’s an abuser in this courtroom, but it’s not Mr Depp. And there’s a victim of domestic abuse in this courtroom, but it’s not Mrs Heard.
Large crowds of fans and supporters gathered outside the courtroom of the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Virginia – see photo gallery here:
(case continues below the gallery)
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She further points out that today it is exactly six years since Heard went to court in Los Angeles, with a mark on his face, and asked to have Depp banned from visiting.
Vasquez notes that it had been six days since Heard had last seen Depp – and that she was photographed with a friend the day after she went to court, smiling and without marks on her face.
Depp’s lawyer believes that one must either believe all of Heard’s allegations – or none of them.
Vasquez also asks the jury to give Depp “his life back”.
She emphasizes that no audio or video evidence has been presented of what Heard accuses Depp of having done.
– This has been a deeply malicious act against real victims of domestic violence, Vasquez concludes.
She is replaced by her colleague Ben Chew, who also represents Depp.
– Depp’s lawsuit has never been motivated by money. Nor by punishing Heard, but by bringing out the truth, he says.
– Johnny Depp wants to show his children, Lily Rose and Jack, that the truth is worth fighting for.
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