Tears, sex scenes and James Franco: Depp v Heard trial continues
WARNING: This article contains allegations of physical and sexual violence that some readers may find distressing.
Court proceedings in the defamation trial opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard will resume on Monday after a week-long hiatus. Judge Penney Azcarate informed both parties and the jury of the break at the start of the trial.
Heard is being sued by Depp for $50m for implying he abused her in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Although she didn’t name him, he claims her allegations impacted his ability to work.
As the break began, both sides issued statements of confidence in how the proceedings are going.
Heard will continue giving testimony on 16 May. She has already spoken extensively about her troubled relationship with Depp and detailed alleged physical fights. The court heard a harrowing account of an alleged sexual assault on Heard during a brutal and bloody altercation in Australia in 2015.
According to reporting by Law & Crime, Depp will also be called back to the witness stand as part of Heard’s case. The jury will also hear from Whitney Henriquez, Heard’s sister, and actor Ellen Barkin, with whom Depp had a brief relationship in the 1990s.
Why Amber Heard’s defamation trial is being held in Virginia
Oliver O’Connell12 May 2022 11:30
ICYMI: There was almost an awkward courtroom encounter
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard nearly ran into each other as the court took a break shortly after her testimony on an alleged sexual assault by Mr Depp.
Court security stopped Mr Depp from walking out of the courtroom at the break, allowing Ms Heard to leave the witness stand and head back to her legal team on the other side of the room.
Oliver O’Connell16 May 2022 04:00
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard issue duelling statements sharing confidence in trial
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard issued duelling statements sharing confidence in their respective legal teams’ standing their defamation trial as the Virginia court proceedings took a week’s break.
The trial resumes in the morning.
Oliver O’Connell16 May 2022 03:00
Jennifer Grey says she ‘doesn’t recognise’ Johnny Depp in trial footage
Oliver O’Connell16 May 2022 02:00
The ‘lesser known person’ in Johnny Depp’s US defamation trial
As she entered the witness box to give evidence in the multimillion-dollar US defamation trial against her former partner Johnny Depp, Amber Heard acknowledged that she was “the lesser known person” in the courtroom.
Oliver O’Connell16 May 2022 01:00
What attorneys say about the Depp v Heard trial so far
In discussions with The Independent during the fourth week of proceedings, three attorneys highlighted the high standard Depp must reach if he hopes to win his defamation case – the same standard Heard must also meet if she wants her countersuit against Depp to be successful. They also pointed to the ultra-public nature of the trial, and the potential gap between the opinions of viewers following the proceedings online and those of jurors, who are prevented from reading up on the trial while it happens.
Oliver O’Connell16 May 2022 00:00
Wildly divergent accounts of fight in Australia
WARNING: This article contains allegations of physical and sexual violence that some readers may find distressing.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have both testified about what they each allege happened during a violent incident in Australia in early 2015, when the latter actor severed his finger.
The alleged incident has been a key point of the trial, with Ms Heard and Mr Depp each sharing their accounts. Over the course of the evening, Mr Depp’s middle finger was cut off. Ms Heard has said she was not awake when the injury happened; Mr Depp has alleged his finger was injured when Ms Heard threw a vodka bottle in his direction.
Ms Heard has alleged that Mr Depp sexually assaulted her with a liquor bottle that night. Mr Depp has denied assaulting Ms Heard.
Oliver O’Connell15 May 2022 23:00
Most damning things Amber Heard has said about Johnny Depp at defamation trial
Mr Depp was heard as a witness first, and Ms Heard took the stand on 4 May. Her testimony resumed on 5 May and will continue on Monday 16 May.
Here are the most damning parts of her testimony so far:
Oliver O’Connell15 May 2022 22:00
Most damning things Johnny Depp said about Amber Heard at their defamation trial
Here’s a rundown of some of the most damning things Mr Depp testified about Ms Heard:
Oliver O’Connell15 May 2022 21:00
Who will testify when the trial resumes?
Here are some of the people named as potential witnesses for the final two weeks of the trial:
Oliver O’Connell15 May 2022 20:00
