Could 27, 2016 was the day that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s marriage went from non-public distress to public, career-killing spectacle.
Heard, who had simply filed for divorce, arrived at a Los Angeles courthouse that day to hunt a short lived restraining order, exhibiting up with a transparent mark on her face, which she mentioned Depp inflicted throughout a battle six days prior. Photographers captured the scene, and the allegations turned tabloid fodder throughout the globe.
Actor Amber Heard returns to the courtroom for the defamation trial in opposition to her, on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., on April 27, 2022.
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Depp says he by no means hit her, and now he’s suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court docket in Virginia. On Wednesday, jurors within the case heard from cops who responded to the couple’s penthouse instantly after the battle. Not one of the officers noticed the crimson mark that was so outstanding six days later.
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Officer Tyler Hadden, one of many officers who responded to the couple’s penthouse condo on Could 21, 2016, mentioned Heard refused to speak to officers and had no indicators of an damage, though he acknowledged she’d been crying and was red-faced.
“Simply because I see a feminine with pink cheeks and pink eyes doesn’t imply one thing occurred,” he mentioned in a recorded deposition performed for jurors Wednesday.
Actor Johnny Depp watches a deposition testimony of Los Angeles Police Division (LAPD) officer Tyler Hadden throughout Depp’s defamation trial in opposition to his ex-wife Amber Heard, on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., on April 27, 2022.
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Depp had already left the penthouse by the point officers arrived. Officers mentioned they’d no concept who Heard was, or that she was married to Depp. He mentioned neither Heard nor anybody on the penthouse complicated was prepared to inform him or the opposite officers who Heard’s husband was.
Jurors heard related testimony Tuesday from an officer who accompanied Hadden to the penthouse.
Actor Johnny Depp gestures as he stands within the courtroom throughout a recess amid his defamation trial in opposition to his ex-wife Amber Heard, on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., on April 27, 2022.
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An officer who made a follow-up go to that night time, William Gatlin, testified Wednesday that he noticed no accidents both, although he acknowledged that his go to was transient and he acquired no nearer than 10 toes (3 metres) from Heard. He mentioned his verify was a perfunctory one as a result of it appeared that the decision was only a duplicate to the one which Hadden had already responded to.
The jury noticed bodycam video of Gatlin’s response, which was lower than two minutes. Heard might solely be seen at a distance.
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Heard’s legal professionals, of their questions, have recommended that Heard might have coated her accidents with make-up, as a result of at that time she nonetheless needed to guard Depp. Additionally they requested officers why they didn’t examine a possible case of home violence extra totally.
The officers’ testimony is a few of Depp’s finest proof that Heard contrived the allegations in opposition to her ex-husband. It enhances earlier testimony from witnesses who say they noticed Heard and her sister practising faux punches within the days after the assault.
It’s removed from definitive, although. Heard’s legal professionals have but to placed on their case, and a few of her buddies say they have been on the penthouse when Depp allegedly attacked her.
And even when jurors have been to conclude that Depp by no means assaulted his spouse on Could 21, they’ve heard proof of different alleged assaults earlier than and throughout the couple’s transient marriage.
Depp sued Heard for libel after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Put up in 2018 referring to herself as “a public determine representing home abuse.”
The article doesn’t point out Depp by identify, however his legal professionals say the article defames him nonetheless as a result of it’s a transparent reference to the extremely publicized allegations Heard made when she filed for divorce in 2016 and obtained a short lived restraining order as effectively.
Jurors additionally heard recorded testimony Wednesday from Christian Carino, an agent who represented Depp and Heard and was buddies with each. He mentioned he believes the abuse allegations scuttled Depp’s participation in a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, however he didn’t pin the lack of that movie particularly on Heard’s 2018 op-ed piece.
Actor Johnny Depp is seen as a pre-recorded deposition testimony of Christian Carino is performed on screens throughout Depp’s defamation trial in opposition to his ex-wife Amber Heard, on the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., April 27, 2022.
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Heard’s legal professionals advised jurors in opening statements that there have to be proof that the Put up article particularly broken Depp’s status for him to prevail in a libel case.
Carino additionally testified that Heard twice tried to reconcile with Depp, even after she filed for divorce — as soon as in 2016 and once more in 2017. At one level in 2016, he brokered a gathering between Heard and a reluctant Depp that resulted in a battle.
He additionally testified briefly about Heard’s subsequent relationship with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk. Heard texted Carino in 2017 professing disappointment about her breakup with Musk. Carino appeared incredulous, and texted in response to Heard, “You advised me a thousand instances you have been simply filling house.”
The trial is ongoing.
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