Law&Crime Sidebar - Depp v. Heard Day 23 Recap

Episode Date: May 27, 2022

Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy has the highlights from the final witnesses in Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s rebuttal cases. A surgeon testified for Depp that a vodka bottle could have severed part of Depp’s middle finger. Then, Amber Heard took the stand in her rebuttal to Depp’s rebuttal and told the jury that she has received hundreds of death threats and called the trial “the Johnny Depp show”. Heard may have also made an admission about the Washington Post op-ed that could prove fatal to her case.SUPPORT THE SHOW:Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/LAW83 - enter promo code LAW83 for 83% off and 3 extra months for free!READ FULL TRIAL RECAPS:lawandcrime.comCHECK OUT CANADIAN TRUE CRIME PODCAST:APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/canadian-true-crime/id1197095887SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/5YNYcVmxKGsd8Q73mssWT9SUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that will

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. I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things to be involved in the Johnny Depp show. Amber Hurd, back on the stand as the last witness in her rebuttal case calling the trial the Johnny Depp show. It's her last chance to prove her defamation counterclaim and to defend herself against Depp's lawsuit. Did Mr. Depp abuse you physically? Yes. Verbly? Yes. Emotionally? Yes. Psychologically? Yes. I'm Ann Janette Levy and welcome to Law and Crime Sidebar,

where we take a closer look at the testimony in the trial of Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard. Thursday was the last day of testimony in the case. The day began with the last witness in Johnny Depp's rebuttal case, an orthopedic surgeon called to rebut the testimony of an orthopedic surgeon called by Heard's team. Dr. Richard Gilbert gave his opinion on what could have caused part of Depp's right middle finger to be severed. In your review, what types of mechanisms can cause this sort of injury? So this is a mechanism of injury that has high velocity or force, generally a crush type

injury. A simple fall would not result in a commonude fracture such as is seen in these x-rays. And we're using the term commented fracture. Can we just define that quickly for us? So again, commonuted and it's not particular to a finger, is a medical term for a fracture that has multiple fragments. In your opinion, could this injury have been sustained in the manner Mr. Depp described? I do believe so.

And how might that work? How might a thrown vodka bottle produce an injury like this? So vodka bottle, which is a hard object, would have crushed the tip of the finger, resulting in the common-needed fracture. And in addition, as the vodka bottle broke, broke, the glass would have lacerated the finger resulting in the soft tissue loss that was also seen with this injury. On cross-examination, Hurd's lawyer Ben Rottenborn asked Dr. Gilbert whether it was true that he has paid $1,000 per hour for his work. Dr. Gilbert said yes, that's his rate. Rottenborn also questioned the doctor about his opinion. Your explanation of that

is that you believe that his hand must have moved at some point during the force of the injury. Isn't that correct? No, I said it could have, but I did not say that it did. No, you believe that it did, don't you? I said that it likely did, but I was not there, and I don't have videotape of the injury, so I can't determine that definitively. Depp's team rested its rebuttal case, and then Amber Heard called rebuttal witnesses, including forensic psychologist Dr. Don Hughes,

who said she believed Depp's expert Dr. Shannon Curry was confused when asked about Curry's opinions on Hughes' testing methods. Heard's case concluded with Heard taking the stand again. What do you hope to reclaim after this is over? Protecting the secret that I did for as long as I did, has taken enough of my voice. Johnny has taken enough of my voice.

I have the right to tell my story. I have the right to say what happened to me. I have the right to my voice and my name. He took it long enough. I have a right as an American to talk about what happened to me to own my story and my truth. I have that right.

I hope to give my voice back. It's all I want. And I've said that from day one. And once again, Amber Hurd faced a tough cross-examination by Depp's layer Camille Vasquez. And the manager of the Hicksville Trailer Park was furious that Johnny had wrecked the whole thing. Do you remember that testimony? That's correct. Well, we heard from that manager of the Hicksville Trailer Park Morgan Knight on Monday, didn't we?

I'm not quite sure who that guy was or if he had any involvement in this. I know a lot of people have come out of the woodwork to be involved. So you're accusing Mr. Knight of testifying and committing perjury? I'm not accusing anyone. I just don't recognize that man. You heard Mr. Knight testify that it was actually you who was upset with Mr. Depp spending time away from him. Isn't that correct? How would he know? He wasn't there. You heard Mr. Knight testify that it was actually.

actually you who was yelling at Mr. Depp. Again, I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things to be involved in the Johnny Depp show, but he wasn't there. He doesn't know, and he certainly doesn't know what happened behind closed doors. You should have seen Ben Chew's face when Amber Heard said she'd heard a lot of people

say a lot of things to be involved in the quote, Johnny Depp Show. It looked like he mouthed, wow. Then Vasquez moved on to May 27th, 2016, the day that Amber Heard went to court and requested that domestic violence restraining order against Johnny Depp. Ms. Ford, you told this jury that you had no idea the press was going to be at the courthouse when you got your TRO on May 27th, 2016. Do you remember that testimony?

I said I did not have anything to do with it. Yes. No. My question again, you told this jury that you had no idea that the press was going to be outside after you got the ex-party TRO on May 27th. 2016. Do you remember that testimony? I apologize. I must have misunderstood, Ms. Vasquez. I actually had no idea whether they were going to be there or not. When I walked into the courtroom that day, it was completely quiet, still empty. Even though I had given Johnny's team notice that I was finally in the TRO, we had no reasonably that press knew. And, Your Honor, I would also ask that you instruct the witness to please stop talking once I lodge an objection. Your Honor, she's trying to answer the question as best she can. And Ms. Vasquez is misrepresenting

to her what she testified to. Well, I'll strike the last part as non-responsive, just if you could answer the questions asked. Okay? Thank you, Ms. Hurd. In fact, you testified that you were, quote, shocked when you saw press when you were leaving the courthouse. Yes? Yes. You weren't shocked at all, though, were you?

Incorrect. You knew the press would be at the courthouse, right, Ms. Hurd? No. Well, you did bring your publicist to the courthouse with you on May 27, 2016, didn't you? I sure did. I'm a public figure. I brought my publicist in case. It blew up in case.

You actually had alerted TMC that you would be filing a TRO against Mr. Depp that very day, didn't you? No, I did not. The one day you didn't bother to wear makeup to cover up the mark on your face. I did not call TMZ or any other news source or paparazzi source. No one. I never did that. We heard testimony from former TMZ employee Morgan Tremaine yesterday, correct? Did I hear his testimony?

Yes. Yes, I was here. And you heard Mr. Tremaine's testimony that he knew to dispatch the paparazzi to the court. House on May 27th, right? I heard him say that he knew that, yes. Yeah, and that he dispatched paparazzi to the courthouse to capture a picture of an alleged bruise on the right side of your face. Do you remember him saying that?

I remember him saying that. That information must have come from your team, right, Ms. Hurd? Absolutely not. Why would I want that? What actual survivor of domestic violence wants that? Hurd maintains that she didn't tip off TMZ about the restraining order, but former TMZ employee Morgan Tremaine testified that he dispatched. a crew to the courthouse that day, and that Herd was supposed to turn so the photographer could

get a clear photo of her cheek with a mark on it that she says was a bruise. When you told this jury under oath that you punched Mr. Depp because you thought of Mr. Depp pushing Kate Moss down the stairs, you didn't expect Ms. Moss to agree to testify that that never happened, did you? Incorrect. I know how many people will come out of the woodwork to be in support of Johnny. So you think Ms. Moss needs to come out of the woodwork to testify for Mr. Depp? Everybody who was around in the 90s and the early aughts knew that rumor. I had heard that rumor for multiple people.

Of course, that's what flashed through my head when my violent husband not only swung for me, but all of a sudden swung for my sister. Of course I thought of that. I did not expect her to show up or not expect her to show up. It didn't matter. It doesn't change what I believed at the time when we were on the stairs, and I thought he was going to kill my sister by pushing her down the stairs. When answering another question from Vasquez, Hurd seemed to make an admission.

about the Washington Post op-ed that's at the center of Depp's defamation claim. You didn't expect a TMZ employee to show up to testify that TMZ had been alerted that you would be at the courthouse and knew exactly which side of your face to take a picture of, did you? I know how many people will come out and say whatever for him. That's his power. That's why I wrote the op-ed. I was speaking to that phenomenon. How many people will come out in support of him and will fall to his power? He is a very powerful man and people love curing. favor with powerful men. And I know that firsthand I've lived here. Jail time for committing perjury. Excuse me? I didn't, I didn't hear your question. You didn't hear any question? Ms. Vasquez, if you do mind, please just repeat the question. I didn't hear you. Curry favor and commit perjury in this courtroom?

I have seen people do this. I have seen people do this time and time again. That's why I wrote the op-ed. Wouldn't you just love to know what the jury thought about that answer? Hurd said that she knew how many people would come out to defend Depp, a powerful man, and that she had seen it before. When Hurd testified in her case in chief, she said the op-ed was not about Johnny Depp. Ben Rottenborn asked her on redirect whether she ever faked injuries, and she said no. Then Hurd's team rested. Judge asked Karate and the lawyers for both sides, then finalized jury instructions. And just a couple of notes on things you might not have heard about or seen. Ben Chu, he was walking through the hallway on Thursday morning, and I asked him if he had a

ferret sticking out of his pocket as he was walking down the hallway. And he said, no, it's an alpaca. I swear to you, I saw this furry thing sticking out of his pocket, and I really didn't make the connection. But he apparently has an alpaca that he carries around in his pocket. I hadn't seen that before. Also, Stephen Duters, who used to be the personal assistant for Johnny Depp, but now runs the European division of his production company posted on his Instagram story on Thursday that for years people accused him of leaking the information about Johnny Depp to TMZ. He says finally people know it wasn't him. And that's it for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar podcast. I'm Ann Janette Levy and I want to thank you for making us the number one news podcast in several countries

around the globe. It's really exciting. I just still can't to you how grateful we are that you've trusted us to bring you information about this case. A lot of people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them, this is not a case about Hollywood. This is not just about Hollywood. This is an important case for many reasons. It's about the Me Too movement. It's about men as domestic violence victims, and it's also about the First Amendment. So I want you to think about that as we move forward.

Closing arguments will be heard on Friday morning. We will, of course, have those covered for you. You can find this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. I'm Ann Janette Levy, and we will see you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.