The jurors in Johnny Depp’s and Amber Heard’s defamation lawsuit were sent home early Thursday, and closing arguments begin Friday morning at 9 a.m. EDT.
Testimony was finished before lunchtime on Thursday, with Heard’s legal team using just about every minute of the allotted hour and 16 minutes they had left. Their final witness was the actress herself.
Depp’s legal team will begin closing arguments, followed by a rebuttal from Heard’s team, plus their closing argument regarding her counterclaim. Then, Depp’s team will present their rebuttal to the counterclaim, following which, Heard’s team will respond once again. In total, each team will have two hours each to give their entire argument.
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Heard’s lawyer Benjamin Rottenborn requested a screen to display a PowerPoint for closing arguments, which was approved.
Following closing arguments, jurors will receive a laptop with all items that were filed as evidence during the trial. This will not include transcripts of testimonies, video depositions, or recordings of testimony, virtual or in-person, Judge Penney Azcarate clarified Thursday.
One piece of evidence, however, will not be included on the laptops. Surveillance video from the Eastern Columbia Building where Depp and Heard shared a penthouse was found to be a corrupted file, according to Azcarate. As a result, it will not be included on the laptop.
After closing arguments, the jury will deliberate to decide if Heard is guilty of defaming Depp and if Depp is guilty of defaming Heard, first by determining if either celebrity’s statements regarding their relationship were false. Should the jury not come to a consensus by the end of the day Friday, they will return Tuesday to deliberate.
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You can catch up on previous testimony here.
