Amber Heard's lawyers asked Judge Penney Azcarate to dismiss the defamation case, saying Johnny Depp had not proven his claims. Judge Azcarate denied the request, and then Depp's lawyer Benjamin Chew told the jury that his client provided numerous testimonies, recordings, and witnesses.
According to Depp's attorney, the most dooming evidence is related directly to a defamation lawsuit. Amber Heard has reportedly paid less than half of her $3,5 million pledged donation to the American Civil Liberties Union. The general counsel of the ACLU, Terence Dougherty, testified that Amber Heard did not provide money to charity as she promised after the divorce in 2016.
Amber received $7 million from Depp and promised to split the money between ACLU and a children's hospital. The last payment to the ACLU was made in 2018.
The correspondence between Amber Heard and members of the ACLU allegedly proves that Amber Heard used Depp's name to create an op-ed in time for the Aquaman release. The actress did not name Depp. Dougherty agreed with Depp's attorney that some employees at the ACLU said that removing the connections to Depp and Heard's marriage would make the op-ed "less impactful."
Depp's lawyer brought up an email from an ACLU employee that referenced a USA Today article about the op-ed that connected Heard's Washington Post piece to Depp. The employee wrote, "So much for not mentioning JD."
Dougherty said that the ACLU intended for readers to understand that the accusations were aimed at Depp.
On May 3, Depp's lawyer repeated that the implications were clear. He then reminded the judge and the jury that the police officers testified they saw no injuries on Amber when they were called in for alleged domestic violence.
Chew said:
"Witness after witness has come forward to testify that Ms. Heard, far from being a figure representing domestic violence, is, in fact, a recidivist perpetrator of domestic violence."
Chew stated, "She's the abuser in this courtroom," referring to Amber Heard.
The actor's lawyer concluded that Depp had been abused during his marriage to Amber Heard. Here is the video which concludes the midtrial.
