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Actor Amber Heard suffered post-traumatic stress dysfunction from violence she suffered by the hands of her ex-husband Johnny Depp, together with a number of acts of sexual assault, a psychologist testified Tuesday.
The sexual assaults included being pressured to carry out oral intercourse and having Depp penetrate her with a liquor bottle, the psychologist, Daybreak Hughes, advised jurors at Depp’s libel trial towards Heard. He accuses her of falsely claiming in a newspaper op-ed piece that she was a sufferer of home violence.
Forensic psychologist Dr. Daybreak Hughes, testifies throughout a listening to on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on Could 3, 2022.
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Hughes’ testimony contradicts that of a psychologist employed by Depp’s attorneys, who mentioned Heard was faking her signs of post-traumatic stress dysfunction and suffered from borderline and histrionic persona issues. Hughes disputed that Heard suffers from any persona dysfunction.
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Hughes was the primary witness to take the stand on Heard’s behalf after Depp’s attorneys rested their case Tuesday morning.
Hughes mentioned there may be corroboration of most of the situations of abuse, together with apologies and admissions made by Depp to Heard and admissions he made to associates in textual content messages about his unhealthy behaviour when he drinks. In some instances, Heard advised her therapists in regards to the abuse contemporaneously, Hughes mentioned.
Depp has mentioned he by no means bodily attacked Heard, and that she was the aggressor who routinely hit him and threw issues at him by way of the course of their relationship.
Hughes, in her testimony, mentioned Heard acknowledged that she did at instances push and shove Depp, name him names and insult his parenting.
However Hughes mentioned there’s a distinction within the violence when a smaller individual strikes at a bigger individual, and that Depp’s violence was intimidating and threatened her security, however Heard’s violence didn’t have the identical impact on Depp.
“That’s simply physics; that’s simply proportional power,” she mentioned.
A lot of the violence, Hughes mentioned, stemmed from Depp’s obsessive jealousy. He insisted she keep away from nude scenes, if she labored in any respect, and accused her of affairs with actors Billy Bob Thornton and James Franco. If she did work on a movie, Depp would name the director and others on set and say he “had eyes” there who would report back to him if she fraternized improperly, Hughes mentioned.
And Heard, who identifies as bisexual in accordance with therapy notes launched at trial, additionally confronted scrutiny in her interactions with ladies. Hughes mentioned Depp on one event manually penetrated Heard in anger after witnessing Heard’s interactions with a lady.
Heard blinked again tears, and her lips and chin quivered at instances as Hughes described the abuse.
US actor Amber Heard throughout a listening to on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Virginia, on Could 3, 2022.
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Hughes mentioned she primarily based her testimony on 29 hours of interviews with Heard, in addition to interviews along with her therapists and a assessment of court docket paperwork.
Earlier Tuesday, Depp’s attorneys rested their case, and a choose rejected a movement from Heard’s attorneys to dismiss the case. Heard’s attorneys argued that Depp had did not make his case as a matter of regulation and that no cheap jury might discover in his favour.
However the choose, Penney Azcarate, mentioned the usual for dismissing a case at this level within the trial is exceedingly excessive, and that the case needs to be allowed to maneuver ahead if Depp has supplied even a “scintilla” of proof backing up his claims.
Depp and his lead lawyer, Benjamin Chew, patted one another on the again after the choose dominated the case can proceed.
US actor Johnny Depp speaks to his lawyer Ben Chew within the courtroom on the Fairfax County Circuit Court docket in Fairfax, Virginia, on Could 3, 2022.
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Chew argued that the jury has a wealth of proof to conclude that Heard falsely accused Depp of abuse. In actual fact, he mentioned, the proof reveals that “Ms. Heard bodily abused him. She’s the abuser.”
Heard’s lawyer, J. Benjamin Rottenborn, mentioned the proof is obvious over the past three weeks of testimony that Heard’s allegations of abuse are truthful.
“We haven’t gotten to placed on our case but,” he mentioned. “That is all proof that has are available whereas plaintiff controls the enjoying subject.”
Depp is suing Heard for USD$50-million in Fairfax County Circuit Court docket after Heard wrote a December 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Put up describing herself as “a public determine representing home abuse.” The article by no means mentions Depp by title, however Depp’s attorneys say he was defamed however as a result of it’s a transparent reference to abuse allegations Heard levied in 2016, within the midst of the couple’s divorce proceedings.
The choose on Tuesday did say she’s reserving judgment on whether or not the article’s headline in on-line editions needs to be a part of the libel lawsuit as a result of she mentioned the proof is unclear at this level whether or not Heard wrote the headline or is liable for it.
The net headline reads, “I spoke up towards sexual violence — and confronted our tradition’s wrath. That has to alter.”
Hughes shall be cross-examined Wednesday, and Heard is anticipated to take the stand Wednesday as effectively.
© 2022 The Canadian Press