Law&Crime Sidebar - Depp v. Heard Day 12 Recap

Episode Date: May 3, 2022

Law & Crime's Jesse Weber breaks down the biggest moments of Day 12 in the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard Defamation Trial.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Hey everybody and welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime, where we recap the biggest moments in the day's biggest trials. I'm Jesse Weber. So we're talking the ongoing trial of Johnny Deb v. Amber Hurd out in Fairfax County, Virginia. And I'm actually recording this in Fairfax. I was reporting outside the courthouse all day. It's just absolutely incredible. I got there at 6 a.m. And the line to get a ticket into that court was longer than it has ever been. Everybody wants to see what'll happen next in this ongoing saga. We just wrapped up

day 12. And just to give you a recap here, Depp is suing his ex-wife for $50 million. claiming defamation, namely that she falsely accused him of domestic abuse in a 2018 Washington Post opinion piece and that that article ruined his life and his career. And she's actually countersuing him for a hundred million dollars saying he defamed her when he allegedly orchestrated a public smear campaign against her saying she made up her injuries and lied about him being an abuser. So we started off the day with Travis McGivorne. This is another member of Depp's security team. And like other witnesses before him, he testified that Hurd was physically and verbally abusive to Depp. And many times, Depp would try to get away from Heard. This is something

that the actor had testified to when he was on the stand. And remember, his argument is, hey, I didn't abuse Amber Heard. She attacked me. I'm the victim. But Travis McGivorne really provided what could arguably be the first real-hand account of physical violence from Hurd towards Depp. Not only did he describe when the actress allegedly threw a Red Bull can into Depp's back, but then there was this. Did you see Ms. Heard again that evening after Mr. Depp was in her closet? I did. Yeah, she must have heard what was going on and not been too pleased. So she shortly after re-entered Penthouse Five as I was trying to get Mr. Depp out of there. And what happened at that point?

So her and her sister both came back in. We were on the middle level, so her office level of Penthouse Five at that point. She was agitated. Mr. Depp was agitated. I felt it was time to get Mr. Depp out of the situation, so I stepped in between Ms. Heard and Mr. Depp, telling Mr. Depp that we were leaving and that it wasn't up to him anymore. At that point, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fist and an arm come across my right shoulder. I heard and saw a closed fist contact Mr. Depp in the left side of his face.

And whose fist was that? That was Ms. Hurd's fist. Where did you go? So Ms. Hurd and her sister left Penthouse 5. Again, I don't know where they went. I'm assuming they went through Penthouse 4, we're either in 4 or 3. Mr. Depp was not pleased with me, naturally. He went into the bathroom for a couple minutes.

Miss Lloyd talked to him, and they came out and agreed that it was time to leave. So as we were leaving the front door, Mr. Depp, got right in my face he was wearing sunglasses and uh maybe not sunglasses he was wearing glasses um pulled him down pointed to the left side of his face and told me that's your fault and i agreed um and then we proceeded to the vehicle and and we left the law what did you see on the left side of mr dub's face uh it was There was already a nice little, a nice little shiner. Definitely swollen and red.

It wasn't black and blue yet, but it was definitely swollen and red. At any point during this incident, did Mr. Depp throw anything at Ms. Heard? No. Now, Travis McGivorne did acknowledge that Depp was no angel, that he would also verbally abuse Amber Heard as well. and he even said that he observed Depp rearrange her closet by throwing all her clothes and shoes on the floor. After Travis Morgivorn, we heard from Jack Wiggum, who is Depp's talent manager and agent, and also entertainment industry expert Richard Marks. First, I got to tell you, it was fascinating to hear what Depp was earning before 2018.

We're talking crazy numbers. In fact, when negotiations were happening for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, which Depp claims he lost because of Heard, he was scheduled to earn $22.5 million. But Wigam and Marks were called to show just how much of a detrimental impact that Washington Post article had on Depp's career and reputation, which is a major factor in a defamation case. How, if at all, was the op-ed different from other articles you had read about the Johnny Depp Amber Heard relationship? It, you know, it was a first-person account coming from the victim. It's extremely impactful. Impactful in a good or bad way.

You know, with respect to Johnny, it was, it was catastrophic because it was coming from, you know, a first-person account. It was not from a journalist. that was not from someone observing, it was from someone saying this happened to me. In addition to Pirate Six, did Mr. Depp lose any other films between December 2018 and October 20? Objection, Your Honor, first of all, I don't think he testified that he lost Pirate Six. Second of all, it's... She's now contradicting the witness's testimony, which is inappropriate. Both of you. Both of you overruled. Let's go. Next. Go ahead and answer a question.

Yes. After the op-ed, it was impossible to get him a studio film, which is what we normally would have been focused on in that time period. He was, you know, one of the, one of the guys. And it, I never heard. any complaints, you know, if you will. Do you have an opinion about the impact of the publication of the op-ed on Mr. Depp's reputation in Hollywood? It's devastating. It's the type of claim, the Me Too claim of sexual violence, domestic abuse, that has canceled a list of actors. Chris Knoth recently, I just read something about Frank Langella. We know newscasters, Les Moonvez, head of ABCS.

Now Johnny Depp is in their ranks. But what was interesting was the cross-examination of these witnesses by Heard's team because they tried to show that it wasn't the Washington Post article that tanked Depp's career. It was everything else. It was because Heard filed the TRO in 2016 and first accused Depp of abuse, which is something he's not even suing her for. It was because he received all this negative press for filing a lawsuit against Amber Heard. And the public saw his drunken kitchen video, or they heard the audio tapes.

It was because of an article that was published in The Sun that called Johnny Depp a wife beater. It was because his movies were bombing. It was because Depp was receiving bad press for the booze, the drugs, him allegedly punching someone. Now, to give you a sense of this, I want to talk about when Hurd's team cross-examine one of Depp's witnesses. Because Depp's team called an intellectual property consultant, Doug Bania, and he testified that the actor's cue score, which measures the public's favorability or likability of a celebrity, that that cue score dropped after the 2016 allegations. and then worsened after the 2018 Washington Post article. But listen carefully to Hurd's team questioning what this data really even shows. Since Ms. Hurd's op-ed came out on December 18, 2018, you would agree with me that by definition,

all the spikes you analyzed before December 18, 2018 could not have been caused by the op-ed, right? Correct. So articles about Mr. Deppelin. drug use before December 2018 could not have been caused by the op-ed, correct? Correct. And you testified about three particular Q scores for Mr. Depp, right? Three periods of time are the Q scores that I analyzed. And you're not offering an opinion as to why Mr. Depp's Q score has changed, correct?

That's correct. And Q scores can go up and down for actors for any sort of reason, correct? That's possible. You recall testifying that they could go up and down for any sort of reason in your deposition. Yeah, they can go up and down for many different reasons. So you're not offering an opinion that Mr. Depp's cue scores were damaged because of Ms. Heard's op-ed, correct? That's correct. So yeah, not entirely clear how much this Q-score data really definitively proved the impact the 2018 Washington Post article had on Depp.

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For more information, visit law and crime.com slash podcasts, or they walk among uspodcast.com. Now, finally, we closed out the day with the testimony of Erin Falati, Amber Hurd's former nurse, who we've heard about in this case, she's been referred to as Aaron Borum. This was a pre-recorded deposition testimony. Now, this is testimony that we have been waiting for because so many witnesses said that they never saw injuries on Amber Hurd. However, this nurse said the opposite. She described what she observed in December 2015. December 17, 2015? Yes. And you wrote RN in contact with clients and notify her that she'd be able to deliver medications to her home. Arn waited a

door for several minutes after knocking. Client greeted R.N. at door looking disheveled. Hair appeared unbrushed. Client appeared weepy and sad. Posterous slouched. Client told Aran about argument with husband. Aran offered emotional support but reminded client that RN could not say as was on duty with another client and was only visiting in order to deliver medication. Per client, she had not had contact with husband since altercation. Client had visible bright red blood appearing at center of lower lip. When RN made client aware that she was actively bleeding on her lip, client stated it was from injury sustained in the, and then it's blank. You see that? And I keep going down in the argument between her and her husband and that it continues to bleed

actively. You wrote that? Yes. And then you also wrote clients also states that her head is bruised and that she lost clumps of hair and altercation. You wrote that? I assume so. It's in my notes. Okay. And then you wrote, Arun briefly looked at client's scalp but was unable to visualize the hematoma's client had described. You wrote that? Yes, I would agree. And she was also shown pictures of what Herd texted her one night, pictures that appear to show Herd with a bruised face. And you repeat. this picture from Amber? That's correct.

What is this picture of? I was just asking if you could scroll down. Can we rewind it just a little? Ms. Hurd. And does the picture show redness under Ms. Hurd's eyes? We can answer as a lay person if she has such an opinion. If you have an opinion one way or the other, you can let them know. I'm not an expert, so I mean, there's color on her face in different areas.

I don't know what's what. Can you receive this first picture of Amber at 1236 AM, correct? That's the timestamp there. And you received another picture at 1236 a.m.? it appears so and who do you see in that picture also miss heard and you received a third picture of amber at 1236 a.m. yes it appears so and is that third picture of amber yes that's miss heard and you received the fourth picture of amber at 1236 a. then yes and and this fourth picture of amber

I think just what's clear. The fourth picture is of Amber, correct? That's correct. And you received that at 12.36 a.m. Yes, that's the time stamp. And these are pictures of Amber's face, correct? Yes, that's a picture of her face and neck. I am sure Depp's team will have a lot to say when they cross-examine Ms. Falati.

But that is for our next episode. Thanks for listening to us here on Sidebar. Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to you next time.