Lawyers representing celebrity exes Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in their defamation suits against each other met with the jury one last time on Friday before the jurors began deliberations.
Initial closing arguments from each side were given in the morning, and both sides presented a rebuttal in the afternoon following a lunch break. Both sides were allotted two hours to make their statements, including rebuttals.
Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, rebutted, listing names off of their witness list and pointing out all of the witnesses who aren’t paid employees of the actor. Heard’s attorney, Benjamin Rottenborn, previously claimed the majority of the actor’s witnesses were paid employees.
One lone supporter for Heard was present in the gallery.
ATTORNEYS ISSUE FINAL PLEAS IN CLOSING ARGUMENTS: JOHNNY DEPP V AMBER HEARD
“You may have noticed no one showed up for Ms. Heard in this courtroom other than her sister,” Vasquez said. “Her close friends don’t show up for her.”
Vasquez went on to claim that Heard’s lawyers, Rottenborn and Elaine Bredehoft, “mischaracterized” the events of the trial in their closing statements.
“Her story doesn’t hold up,” Vasquez said of the actress. “You saw her performance on the stand.”
Rottenborn responded to Vasquez’s observation, reminding the jury that Amber’s witnesses, who are also her friends, corroborated everything that Heard claimed. Many of those witnesses did not testify in court, and instead, their recorded depositions were shown to the jury.
“Give Amber her life back,” Rottenborn told the jury.
First, the jurors will select a presiding juror to organize deliberations. Besides the laptop with all of the evidence, including audio and video recordings, all other electronic devices will still be restricted. Judge Penney Azcarate strongly recommended against a straw vote to help speed up deliberations.
Azcarate also revealed the two alternate jurors, leaving a seven-person jury to deliberate. The alternates could still be called back to jury duty should anything happen to a juror during deliberations. The alternates are still expected to avoid doing their own research on the case. Should jurors not come to a conclusion by the end of the day Friday, they will continue deliberations on Tuesday.
After the jury was dismissed and Azcarate gave a brief statement thanking both parties for respecting the Fairfax County Court staff, Depp, Heard, their legal teams, and everyone in the gallery applauded.
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“That’s a first,” Azcarate said.
You can catch up on previous testimony here.
