Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Trial: Weeks 1-5 Synopsis

Currently, there is one hot topic on the news that is widely Heard of all around the U.S. – pun intended. If you haven’t yet guessed, I am referencing the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Case. While the problems between the two ex lovers started roughly 6 years ago, the case was taken to court the 11th of April, 2022. The case was finally brought to court, because Heard had defamed Depp in The Washington Post. Heard had called herself a “survivor of domestic abuse,” in an article she wrote- covertly referencing her ex husband, Johnny Depp. While Heard did not say his name, it is enough evidence that she referenced it in her column in The Washington Post. 

“Then, two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.”  This in itself is already an obvious reference to Depp, which is an obvious implication of defamation. This defemataton, in fact, is the reasoning as to why Depp took this whole case to court; it was getting out of hand. 

The case is still taking place, however. The trial is about 6 weeks long, and so far I have only personally witnessed the first few weeks of the trial. So far, there is plenty of back and forth between Depp and Heard. The ex-couple are both claiming to have been abused by one another. However, the case seems to be going in the direction of actor Johnny Depp. All of the evidence in the case has been exposed as something other than what Heard had been telling the jury. This information isn’t enough to either validate nor discredit Heard’s claims. However, this evidence adds to the case and the questionable credibility of her stories. 

Throughout the course of the rough 5 weeks of the trial, both Heard and Depp had some witnesses come in to testify. While Heard’s witnesses included only friends and seemingly subpar therapists/psychologists/psychiatrists etc, Depp had a multitude of sharp witnesses backing him up; along with a couple stranger witnesses. Every one of Depp’s witnesses had a credible story for his whereabouts or actions. Depp’s doctors had reasonable claims on why not to trust Heards chosen doctors (watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiRCQDXz9h4 to witness Heard’s psychiatrist, Dr Spiegel, take the stand). In this video, it is clear that Heard’s doctors are not on the more professional side. Specifically, this Dr. Spiegel inserts some of his personal opinions on Depp- or to be even more specific, Depp’s characters in his movies. The psychiatrist clearly does not have entirely valid concerns based on the “versions” of Johnny in which he is judging. This pattern of subpar doctors follows Heard, as the following Doctor’s are not too adept at following her story. Heard’s therapist, Dr. Dawn Hughes struggles to remember the details of the story- she even goes as far as looking through her notes in an attempt at remembering.  These are just some of the multiple red flags in Heard’s trial. 

Seeing as I have only made it 5 weeks into the 6 weeks of the trial, it has not yet been determined who has won. Although, from my own perspective on the facts that have been handed out in this case, it looks like Johnny Depp has the more sound information backing him up. Not only does he have a foolproof story about each “incident,” that he was supposedly the criminal in (according to Heard), but he clearly has intelligent and genuine people to back him up on it. One of those intelligent individuals is Dr. Shannon Curry, a psychologist who has testified against Amber Heard. Dr. Curry has an obvious understanding and confidence in all of her personal knowledge. Curry gives her own, professional diagnosis to Heard, claiming that Heard has shown “extreme levels of exaggeration” in her testimonies. Additionally, the Dr. diagnosed Heard with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). However, Dr. Dawn Hughes disagrees with this diagnosis, claiming that she has Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) instead, because of her “abusive relationship with Mr. Depp.” 

As the trial proceeds, many more witnesses are brought forth. One of the more notable witnesses was Kate Moss, a British model and one of Depp’s ex lovers. Moss testifies against Heard’s claim that Moss was pushed down a set of stairs by Depp. While Heard insinuates that Moss was harmed by her ex husband, Moss says that that is not the case. The model indicates that she fell due to the rainy weather conditions rather than by the force of Depp (watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jPu9NWeGQ to witness Kate Moss take the stand). 

These testimonies shine a bad light on Heard, going against all the claims she has made under oath. While the jury has not yet officially made their decision, things aren’t looking too good on Heard’s side. While there are continuously many more witnesses brought up, they all have stories that aren’t quite equivalent to what the female movie star is stating. The trial hasn’t yet come to an end, so we can only sit back and wait to see what happens next.