The lawyers of Johnny Depp they asked a jury on Friday “give mr depp back his life” declaring that his ex-wife, Amber Heardcommitted defamation. heard “ruined her life by falsely telling the world that she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp”, said the lawyer Camille Vasquez to the jury in closing arguments.
Depp hopes the six-week trial will help restore his reputation, though it has become a vicious marriage spectacle, with courtroom television cameras capturing every turn for an increasingly spellbound audience, as fans weigh in on the social media and queued through the night to get the coveted seats in the room.
the lawyer of Depp, benjamin chewsaid “this case has never been about money”. “It’s about Mr Depp’s reputation and freeing him from the prison he’s lived in for the past six years.”.
the lawyer of heard, J. Benjamin Rottenbornsaid the lawsuit has nothing to do with the reputation of Deppbut is part of a smear campaign that Depp released after heard ask for a divorce. “In Mr. Depp’s world, you don’t let Mr. Depp“, said. “If you do, he will start a global humiliation campaign against you.”.
Depp is suing heard by 50 million dollars in the Fairfax County Circuit Courtin Virginiafor an opinion piece he wrote in December 2018 on Washington Post in which it was described as “a public figure representing domestic abuse”. His lawyers say he was defamed by the article even though he never mentioned his name.
Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim against Depp after his lawyer described his accusations as a hoax.
Depp says he never hit heard and that she fabricated the abuse allegations to gain an advantage in the divorce proceedings. He has said that he was often physically attacked by heard. “There is a bully in this room, but it’s not Mr. Depp“, said Vasquez.
heard testified about more than a dozen episodes of physical and sexual assault that she claimed inflicted on her Depp.
Vasquezin his closing, pointed out that heard had to revise her testimony about the first time she said she was beaten. Heard said Depp hit her after she inadvertently laughed at one of his tattoos.. heard She initially said it happened in 2013 – after a fairytale year of dating and romance – but then corrected herself to say it happened in 2012, very early in their relationship.
“Now, in this room, she has suddenly erased a whole year of magic“, said Vasquez.
Jurors have seen multiple photos of heard with marks and bruises on her face, but some photos show only slight redness, and others show more severe bruising.
Vasquez accused heard of manipulating the photos and said that the evidence that heard has embellished some of his injuries is proof that all his claims of abuse are baseless. “Either you believe it all or you don’t believe it at all“, said. “Either she’s a victim of ugly, horrible abuse, or she’s a woman who is willing to say absolutely anything.”.
In the closing argument of heard, rottenborn said that the criticism of evidence of abuse of heard it ignores the fact that there is overwhelming evidence in its favor and sends a dangerous message to victims of domestic violence. “If you didn’t take photos, it didn’t happen“, said rottenborn. “If you took photos, they are fake. If you didn’t tell your friends, they’re lying. If you told your friends, they are part of the deception”.
When the jury deliberates, it will have to focus not only on whether there was abuse, but also on whether the opinion piece of heard can be considered legally defamatory. The article itself focuses primarily on domestic violence policy issues, but the attorney for Depp points to two passages in the article, as well as an online headline, that they claim defame Depp.
In the first passage, heard write that “Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s anger”. The lawyers of Depp qualify it as a clear reference to DeppGiven the heard publicly accused Depp of domestic violence in 2016, two years before she wrote the article.
In a second passage he states:I had the rare benefit of seeing, in real time, how institutions protect men accused of abuse.” The online headline says “Amber Heard: I spoke out against sexual violence – and faced the wrath of our culture”.
“She did not mention his name. she didn’t have to“, said chew. “Everyone knew exactly who and what Miss Heard was talking about.”.
The lawyers of heard cannot take responsibility for the headline because she did not write it, and that the two passages in the article are not about the abuse allegations themselves, but about how it changed the life of heard after doing them.
(C) The Associated Press.-
KEEP READING:
The trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard could be a turning point for men experiencing domestic violence
“Ridiculous, humiliating, incredibly brutal and all false”: the new testimony of Johnny Depp in his trial against Amber Heard
Source-www.infobae.com