“Mr. Depp didn’t look at you once during the trial. You know perfectly well why Mr. Depp isn’t looking at you, don’t you? After having waited a good part of the day while Amber Heard finished testifying after a week’s break, Camille Vasquez, one of Johnny Depp’s lawyers, attacked her « cross-examination » (cross-examination) ready to figure it out. If the actor avoids the gaze of his ex-wife since the start of the trial, it is therefore because he promised it to Amber Heard, in July 2016, after his public accusations of domestic violence: « You will never see again my eyes ! »
After the broadcast of this theatrical audio recording, Camille Vasquez tried for ninety minutes to sow doubt in the minds of the jury about the credibility of Amber Heard. Mainly by attacking the photos in the file, ensuring that the face of the actress did not seem to present the traces of the most serious abuse that she denounces. Amber Heard, she was never really destabilized, ensuring that she had concealed her injuries under makeup.
Ice cream and make-up
The first denounced incident to which the lawyer tackles dates back to March 2013. Amber Heard claimed that Johnny Depp had hit her “so many times” in the face that she had “lost count”. « There is no wound on your face in this photo, is there? » “Asks Camille Vasquez, after making Amber Heard recognize that Johnny Depp never left his heavy signet rings. In the photo, a bruise is visible on the actress’ arm, but not on her face.
In 2014, Amber Heard said she was beaten so badly after the MET gala that she thought her nose had been broken. “You don’t appear to have a nose injury in these photos (taken the next day at a VIP dinner), do you? asks the lawyer. “I wear make-up,” replies Amber Heard. “Makeup covers the swelling? “, is surprised Vasquez. “Ice reduces swelling,” the actress replies tit-for-tat.
Earlier, Amber Heard had assured, makeup palette in hand, that she used an opposite color to cover her bruises: green to counterbalance the red on the first day, then red or orange to reduce the purple or blue next. However, she was forced to admit at the bar that she had not gone to a doctor, even after believing she had her nose broken.
Donations not honored post-divorce
Amber Heard testified that she publicly accused Johnny Depp to defend herself from media attacks accusing her of having invented everything to negotiate a more advantageous divorce agreement. During the libel suit against the British tabloid the Sun in the United Kingdom, she had assured under oath that she had donated the entirety of the 7 million dollars to charities.
« This statement was not true », attacks Johnny Depp’s lawyer. « It’s true, » defends Amber Heard. “I undertook to pay in full (…) I could not fulfill my obligations because I was being sued” for defamation by Johnny Depp, who is claiming 50 million dollars from him.
The cross-examination should continue on Tuesday, before the hearing of several witnesses, including the sister and best friend of Amber Heard. The debates must end on May 27 and then be followed by the deliberations of the seven jurors.