Depp vs Heard last day of presenting.
The Depp V Heard Saga is coming to an end. It’s been a long Trial, but all evidence, testimonies and rebuttals have been presented. All that is left is closing arguments followed by deliberations and then the Jury’s Decision.
So what to expect in the Closing arguments?
Last night both sides and Circuit Judge Penney Azcarate hashed out considerations for the Jury, which is essentially a list of instructions to the Jury on how and what they need to consider when assessing the case, the evidence and the Legalities surrounding the claim and the counterclaim.
These pre-decided instructions will shape the closing arguments, and this is what we will expect to see.
Mostly Verbal
Judge Penney Azcarate made it clear last night that both sides can use a PowerPoint presentation to display evidence, including images and videos. However, the Circuit Judge has clearly stated that no evidence is to be supported with text and must be verbally presented. Therefore, the evidence must be submitted in a visual presentation only with verbal expression of any arguments. Each side has 4 hours to present their closing arguments.
The Judge has also confirmed that none of the recorded depositions can be presented in the closing argument, and neither can any court footage be used.
Johnny Depp‘s closing argument
Johnny Depp has sued Amber Heard over an Op-ed she wrote doe the Washington Post in 2018. He is looking to recover $50 million in damages for defamation.
In an attempt to ask for support for women experiencing domestic violence, the Op-ed Heard describes her experience with abuse from her childhood to adulthood. However, the article doesn’t name Depp directly, but he is identifiable from the press exposure throughout the couple’s relationship, marriage and Divorce.
Depp’s team claim that the abuse Heard claims she received from Depp are untrue, and that Heard is the actual abuser.
Evidentially the Depp Team must make it clear to the Jury that one Depp is identifiable from the Op-ed, that the Op-ed Caused Damage and that the Op-ed is defamatory because the claims made are untrue.
If we look back to Depp’s Trial v The Sun, the Judge ruled that their statement that Depp was a ‘wife beater’ was not defamatory because there was sufficient evidence to back up the statement.
In this Trial, we have seen tremendous amounts of evidence and testimonies to take Depp’s uphill battle to prove that he has not Abused Heard.
This has included testimonies from psychologists who evaluated the mental states of both Heard and Depp. In addition, we’ve seen witnesses testifying that Heard has been abusive and to counter Heard’s description of multiple events where she alleged abuse took place.
Depp’s Legal team have presented evidence that Photographic Evidence presented by Heard and her Legal team has been Opened, Edited and Saved within on IOS Photo Editing Software. They have also submitted photographic evidence showing Heard at Public events shortly after when the alleged abuse had taken place with what appears to be no physical damage to her face where Amber Heard claims she was struk multiple times by Depp.
They have also presented evidence to suggest that several stories and a video ‘Leaked’ to TMZ are likely to be Sourced from Amber Heard or an Agent of Heard. Furthermore, they have also submitted evidence to show the abuse that Depp claims to have received from Heard, including a black eye, a cut on his nose and part of his finger being removed by what he alleged was caused by a bottle of Vodka being thrown at him by Heard.
Depp has testified that the statements that were made in the Op-ed have ruined his career and have taken away from him “Nothing less than everything.”.
These are the likely focal points of Depp’s Closing Statement.
Amber Heard’s Closing Argument
Amber Heard reacted to the Claim against her with a Counter Claim for $100 million dollars. Heard claims that a defamatory statement made by Depp’s attorney, Adam Waldman, defamed Heard and damaged her career when he accused her and her friends of perpetrating an “abuse hoax.”.
Heard’s Team will likely focus half of their time on defending Depp’s case and then focusing on the counterclaim. If Depp is successful in his claim this would then pretty much knock her counterclaim out of the ballpark. So Heard’s team have a lot to do within four hours.
Their points will likely stem around the ‘lack of evidence suggesting that the photos submitted by Heard have actually been Edited. They will also likely state that late Rebuttal witnesses presented by Depp are making false statements and are just trying to get their ’15 minutes of fame’, which was used a lot yesterday by Heard’s Counsel.
They will likely point out that the actual source of leaked videos and locations of interest in the TRO application and Divorce depositions to TMZ is unknown.
They will rely on Heard’s account that the non-visible bruising to Heard’s face and body are due to as she testified as Make-up. No doubt there will also be some interesting statements made by both sides about Heard’s “Bruise Kit” as she described it.
They will also need to address the Statement provided by Kate Moss refuting the whole testimony Heard provided alleging that Depp had pushed her down some stairs.
They will then focus on the counterclaim which will most likely be regarding the damages side of their case and attempting to justify the $100 Million rather than proving the case. The more they try to explain causation the worse they seem to make it from testimony provided by their expert witnesses and the fact that Heard was never released from her contract in the DC Aquaman/Justice League Franchise whereas Depp was forced to resign from the Warner Bros Fantastic Beasts Franchise.
Both do claim the effects of future work after the alleged defamatory statements.
All in all, today will be an interesting day!
Feature image credit Shutterstock.com/Tinseltown
Scotty ✅
