Jurors in Johnny Depp’s libel trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, on Monday saw photos of the actress with red marks and swelling on her face from their last fight before their divorce, and heard testimony about her experience covering up bruises. with makeup.
Heard wrapped up her testimony in a Virginia court on a third day that focused on the final months of her marriage to Depp. Depp’s lawyers were scheduled to question her in the afternoon.
The trial is now in its fifth week and the jury has seen several photos of Heard that purport to document the abuse she said she suffered during her relationship with the Hollywood star.
However, several of the photos presented on Monday had not been previously seen by the jury and showed redness and swelling much more clearly than the previous ones.
Heard said the marks were caused when Depp threw a phone at her face.
The May 2016 confrontation prompted Heard to file for divorce two days later. A few days later, she obtained a temporary restraining order after a court hearing and was widely photographed leaving the premises with a distinct red mark on her right cheek.
The final fight has been a key point in the pair’s ongoing feud. Depp sued Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court for defamation over a December 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which the actress described herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” . Depp’s lawyers say she was defaming him even though the article doesn’t mention it.
Depp says he never hit Heard and that she is making up claims that she was abused. Earlier in the trial, jurors heard from police officers who responded to the emergency call during that final fight who said Heard’s face was red from crying, but they saw no injuries. Witnesses also testified that they saw no bruises on Heard’s face in the days after the fight.
Heard, in her testimony Monday, said she was uncooperative with officers who responded to the couple’s penthouse and said her face-to-face interactions with them were very limited.
She also talked about her makeup routine using a color corrector that she called her “bruise kit” to cover the marks on her face. She said that she learned over the years to use green shades on the first day of a bruise to cover the redness, and switch to orange shades when the bruise turns blue and purple.
“I’m not going to walk around Los Angeles with bruises on my face,” he said.
Heard testified that she did not want to publicly expose Depp as an abuser in his court proceedings, but had to go to court to give evidence to get the restraining order, and was shocked when she left the courthouse surrounded by paparazzi.
“I just wanted to change the locks,” he said of why he went to court to get the restraining order. “I just wanted to get a good night’s sleep.”
During her testimony on Monday, Heard also reviewed her earlier statement about the first time she says Depp physically assaulted her. And she strongly denied an allegation by Depp that she left human fecal matter in the couple’s bed after a fight. Heard said it was the couple’s mini Yorkshire terrier that soiled the bed and that the dog had a history of intestinal problems since he accidentally ingested Depp’s marijuana.
“Absolutely not,” he said of the alleged feces prank. “I don’t think that’s funny. I don’t know what grown woman it looks like. She was in no mood to joke around.”
However, he said Depp became obsessed with the idea that someone had defecated on his bed. Heard said that was the only thing he wanted to talk about during that final fight on May 21, 2016, even though Depp’s mother had just died and the pair hadn’t spoken in a month.
The faeces accusation is one of several that Depp fans have particularly latched onto in their criticism of Heard on social media.
At the beginning of her testimony on Monday, the actress corrected herself about the time she said Depp first slapped her, which revolved around her questioning him about one of his tattoos. Ella Heard initially said it happened in 2013, but on Monday she said it actually happened in 2012. She said her confusion stemmed from the fact that she wanted to believe the abuse hadn’t started so early in the relationship. her.
“I had allowed myself to forget that the beginning was also violent and chaotic,” he said.
Heard also spoke about the op-ed itself, saying that staff members of the American Civil Liberties Union, for whom she had started working as an ambassador, wrote the first draft. She said that she was happy to lend her voice to the domestic violence debate and that she had no intention of making a reference to Depp.
“This is not about Johnny,” he said. “The only one who thought it was Johnny was Johnny. It was about me and my life after Johnny.”
Heard concluded her testimony by saying that the accusations she receives daily from Depp’s supporters that he is lying about the abuse are “torture”.
“I want to get on with my life,” he said. “I want Johnny to move on. I want him to leave me alone.”
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