Domain Registration

Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation trial: Closing arguments set for today

  • May 27, 2022
Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation trial: Closing arguments set for today

Closing arguments are to be held on Friday in the bitter multi-million dollar defamation case between “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard.

Lawyers will make their final appeals to the jury following dozens of hours of testimony and six weeks of blistering mutual accusations of domestic violence between the celebrity couple.

Judge Penney Azcarate is expected to hand the case over to the seven-person jury Friday afternoon. The panel will be off over the weekend and on Monday, a public holiday, and resume deliberations on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old Depp filed a defamation suit against Heard in Virginia over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.”

The Texas-born Heard, who had a starring role in “Aquaman,” did not name Depp in the piece, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.

Heard countersued for $100 million, claiming that she suffered “rampant physical violence and abuse” at his hands.

Dozens of witnesses testified during the high-profile trial which began on April 11, including bodyguards, Hollywood executives, agents, entertainment industry experts, psychiatrists, doctors, friends and relatives.

Depp and Heard each spent days on the witness stand during the televised trial which attracted hundreds of fans of the “Pirates” star to the town of Fairfax near the US capital.

Video and audio recordings of heated, profanity-laced arguments between the couple were repeatedly played for the jury, which was also shown multiple photographs of injuries allegedly suffered by Heard during their volatile relationship.

Hours of testimony featuring medical experts was devoted to a finger injury that Depp suffered while filming the fifth installment of “Pirates” in Australia in March 2015, a month after the pair were married.

Depp claimed the tip of the middle finger on his right hand was severed when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him during an argument. Heard said she did not know how the injury occurred.

Both agreed that Depp went on to scrawl messages on walls, lampshades and mirrors using the bloody digit.

Article source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/961132-johnny-depp-vs-amber-heard-defamation-trial-closing-arguments-set-for-today

Related News