Johnny Depp trial – live: Amber Heard defamation case to resume today after week of shocking testimony

A friend of Johnny Depp was ejected as a witness while testifying in the defamation trial opposing Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Gina Deuters, who is married to a member of Depp’s staff and is herself a close friend of the actor’s, gave testimony on Thursday (14 April) at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia.

She answered questions about Depp’s drugs and alcohol use, telling the court she had seen him use weed and cocaine occasionally, and that she had seen him drink alcohol. Deuters testified that she had never seen Depp be violent or angry after using any substances or drinking alcohol.

At one point during her testimony, Heard’s legal team asked for permission to approach Judge Penney Azcarate. The judge conferred with the attorneys, then sent the jury out for a brief recess.

Judge Azcarate then asked Deuters: “Have you been watching the trial this past week?”

Deuters replied: “I’ve seen clips of it online, yes.”

The judge then confirmed that Deuters had watched clips of witness testimony, after which she told Deuters she was excused.

Deuters then had to leave the court, and Judge Azcarate said she would instruct the jury to strike Deuters’s testimony.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s former marriage counselor told a courtroom the couple engaged in what she saw as “mutual abuse”.

Dr Laurel Anderson was called as a witness on Thursday (14 April) as part of the defamation trial opposing Depp and Heard in Fairfax, Virginia. She was asked about some of her past sessions with the pair.

Asked whether Heard had ever reported any physical violence by Depp to her, Dr Anderson said yes. Asked whether she had seen photos, she said she had but doesn’t remember when. Asked whether “there was violence from Mr Depp toward Amber”, she said: “Yes, you’re right.”

“He had been well controlled for, I don’t know – 20, 30 years, and both were victims of abuse in their homes, but I thought he had been well controlled for decades,” she added. “And then with Ms Heard he was triggered and they engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse.”

Clémence Michallon reports.

Katherine “Kate” James has addressed the extreme working conditions she allegedly endured as a former personal assistant to Amber Heard.

During Johnny Depp’s defamation trial against his ex-wife on Thursday (14 April), Heard’s personal assistant answered questions – in a pre-recorded video deposition completed in February – regarding her past employment with the film star, which she said lasted from 2012 to 2015.

In the defamation case against Amber Heard brought by her ex-husband Johnny Depp, a former neighbour of the couple became emotional during extensive testimony about his friendship with the pair.

Isaac Baruch, who first met Depp as a teenager in Florida and became his longtime friend, lived in one of the five penthouse lofts at the Eastern Columbia Building in Downtown Los Angeles owned by the actor.

At one point on Wednesday, he was asked by Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft if he was angry with her client given all that unfolded as the couple broke up and allegations were made against Depp.

ICYMI: Clémence Michallon reports from the courthouse in Virginia.

Johnny Depp’s sister says Amber Heard called him “old and fat” and that the actor’s family was “devastated” at his marriage to her.

Christi Dembrowski made the claims as she took the stand as the first witness in the multi-million dollar defamation trial in Virginia, in which Depp claims that a 2018 article on domestic violence she wrote for The Washington Post implied he was an abuser.

She told the court that while she had seen Ms Heard “be nice” to her brother, she had also seen her “be not nice” and gave details of one such confrontation.

Explosive new allegations have been made by Amber Heard about her ex-husband, Johnny Depp, during the opening arguments of his $50m defamation trial.

Ms Heard’s attorney, Elaine Bredehoft, claimed that Mr Depp sexually assaulted Heard using a liquor bottle during a black-out drunk episode.

Mr Depp was visibly skeptical as Ms Bredehoft made the claims, and shook his head “no” after her comments.

The legal team representing Johnny Depp in the defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard has made their opening statements, with Mr Depp’s attorneys painting Ms Heard as a compulsive and chronic liar who used the allegations she made against the actor as a means to advance her own career.

They claimed she wanted to portray herself as a heroic survivor of abuse.

The attorneys also noted Mr Depp’s drug and alcohol use, but argued that a substance abuse problem does not prove that he ever hurt Ms Heard.

Eve Barlow, Amber Heard’s friend and supporter, has been banned from the courtroom for the remainder of the trial.

She was asked to leave the courtroom in an order by Judge Penney Azcarate.