Law&Crime Sidebar - Top Three Amber Heard Wins

Episode Date: May 31, 2022

Law&Crime's Jesse Weber breaks down the 3 biggest wins for Amber Heard in her defamation trial against Johnny Depp. 1) The kitchen video that had everyone talking. 2) The makeup artist who claims she covered up Heard's bruises. 3) Heard's sister recounts actually seeing Depp violently attack the actress. Plus an honorable mention.READ FULL TRIAL RECAPS:lawandcrime.comSUBSCRIBE 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. 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 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. That's Amber Hurd making one of her final pleas to the jury before they went back for deliberations saying that she was abused by Johnny Depp, and she has the right to tell the world what it's been like to be a

survivor. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime, where we recap the biggest moments in the day's biggest trials. I'm Jesse Weber. We're talking the trial of Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard out in Fairfax County, Virginia, the $50 million lawsuit, where Depp claims his ex-wife defamed him when she falsely accused him of domestic violence in a 2018. Washington Post op-ed piece.

Heard not only defended herself but countersued Depp for $100 million, saying he, through his attorney Adam Waldman, orchestrated a public smear campaign in the media calling her accusations a hoax. Now, in this case, there were a number of moments, pieces of evidence, testimony that helped and hurt both Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. But these are arguably the three biggest wins for. Amber Hurd during the course of this trial. First up, it's the video that got everyone talking.

You know, there's one thing for Amber Hurd to get on the stand and accuse Johnny Depp of being abusive. But it was a whole other thing entirely when the jury saw the now infamous kitchen video. In this tape, Hurd is secretly recording Johnny Depp in the morning at his home in L.A. Motherfucker! What happened? What happened? What happened?

Nothing happened this morning this morning, you know that this morning, you know that? Were you in here? No. So there's nothing happened to you this morning. Yeah, you're right. I just woke up and you were so sweet and nice. We're not even fighting this morning. All I did was say sorry.

Did something happen to you this morning? I don't think so. No, that's the thing. You want to see grades? Don't give you fucking crazy. Oh, you're crazy. Are you crazy? Have you drunk this whole thing this morning?

Oh, you got this going? I just started it. Oh, really? Yes. Really? See that shit on me? No, didn't it? You were smashing shit.

Okay, now I know Depp's response to this was, look, I was just upset. I merely assaulted some cabinets, but I was. never touched Amber Hurd. He also criticized Hurd for secretly taping him, that she apparently smirked in the video, you know, she wasn't scared, that she was accused of leaking the video to TMZ, which Depp's team was trying to show that this was strategic and manipulative on her part. The issue is it doesn't change the fact that he did all this on tape, and he did it all without realizing he was being recorded. He's smashing cabinets, kicking stuff, cursing. If the jury is trying to decide whether or not Johnny Depp abused Amber Heard in any way, physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, then it's not so much what he did on the tape, but the idea of, wow, what else is he capable of? What was he doing behind closed doors with Heard? Look who she was around. Of course this guy is violent. Of course this guy is a monster.

Heard claimed the drugs and the alcohol fueled the abuse that she received and there's an argument that he was drunk. in this video, so it makes her overall claims a lot more credible. Next up, the testimony of Melanie Iglesias. This was Amber Hurd's former makeup artist, who said that she personally saw injuries to Amber Hurd's face and head before an appearance on the James Corden show. Hurd was accused of faking her injuries, or even perhaps editing photos of alleged bruises. But to have this eyewitness testify as to what she actually observed, on Amber was something else entirely. On December 16, 2015, did you return to Amber Hurd's penthouse?

Yes. And why did you come to Amber Hurd's penthouse on December 16? It was the James Court and show. She had not parents, so I went back and back to work. And when you arrived at the penthouse, penthouse on December 16, please describe for me what you observed about Amber heard space and any injuries. When I came to the penthouse, December 16, to do Amber's makeup, she had injuries, she had two light, like, I don't know how, I don't know, I mean,

I'm not a medical expert. I don't know how I would describe. them, but it could have looked like somebody had head bodied her lightly, so she had a discoloration here under both eyes and on the bridge of the nose, and she had what I would call a split lip or something on the lip, like a gash or a split lip. Ms. In Glysses, I'm going to ask you to look at what has been marked as exhibit number 11. Do you recognize this photo as being Amber Hurd's head? Yes. Okay. And could you please describe for me what what this photo is is showing? It's showing a chunk of missing hair. And what if anything did you observe on December 16 about

Amber heard missing a chunk of hair? I remember this because she showed it to us and I looked at it. Okay. And can you describe what is depicted right along her scalp there? I don't know. Do you recall that there was some bruising along the scalp and some pus, for lack of a better word? I don't recall.

And she said she had to cover up the bruises with makeup before the program. Could you please describe what you did, you did by way of makeup to prepare Amber Hurd for the James Corden show on December 16, 2015? Yes, we covered, you know, I just did makeup, but just a little heavier way it did it. So we covered, you know, the discoloration or the bruises with a little slightly heavier concealer, one that has a little more of a peach undertone, which I would normally don't use on Amber, but peach do cancel blue. So I did that under the eyes. And I, although Amber always, you know, has a red lip, is one of the signature look. I remember clearly talking that we had

no other option that night, but then to use a red blood, like a really red lipstick to, you know, make sure we could cover up the injuries on the lip. And were you able to cover all of the injuries with the makeup that you applied and as you just described? Yes. Ms. Iglesi, so if you could look at what has been marked is exhibit number 22. Do you recognize Amber Heard in that picture? Yes. Okay.

And was this the picture of her, is this picture of her that evening, December 16, 2015 on the James Corden show. Yes. What, if anything, did you observe on the difference in Amber Hurd's demeanor before the show and then on the show? That she had the ability to, you know, turn it on, that she, you know, the ability to do her job and perform how she was supposed to perform on a show. And prior to Amber, to Amber going on the show and while you were working with her on her makeup, how would you describe Amber's mood and demeanor? Angry, sad, a little erratic. Now, Iglesias conceded

on cross-examination that she never saw Depp actually physically attack her, and she doesn't really know the cause of these injuries. And she's also someone who chose not to work for Herd anymore. So the question is, is it bad blood? Does she feel that Amber Heard is lying? We don't have a clear answer. Iglesias wouldn't really give a reason why she's not working with Herd anymore. So it could be a totally unrelated reason. But she did testify under oath about seeing these injuries. And speaking of injuries, that brings us finally to the testimony of Amber Heard's sister Whitney Enriquez. Whitney was basically the only witness who testified to directly seeing Johnny physically abuse Amber.

But I'm standing up there talking, I'm standing up there, I'm at the top of the stairs with my back to the stairs. And that's when Johnny runs up the stairs. And my, again, I'm facing Amber. He comes up behind me, strikes me in the back, kind of just somewhere over here. He strikes me in the back. I hear Amber shout, don't hit my fucking sister. She smacks him, lands one.

And then he grabs, at that point, that's when Travis runs up the stairs after Amber landed one. But by that time, Johnny had already grabbed Amber by the hair with one hand and was whacking her repeatedly in the face of the other as I was standing there. Travis pulls them apart. I get Amber into mine. I close the doors behind me and lock them. I then hear Johnny's voice shouting. Never mind to what I'm here. I hear Johnny's voice shouting, you fucking hate you.

I hate you both. You fucking whores. And I hear crashing. I hear crashing and banging and smashing. And he starts screaming like an animal. And I then just moved Amber into the next room and I just kept her there all night. The testimony of Whitney Enriquez is huge for Hurd. Herd needed another eyewitness to the violence because no one testified that they actually saw Depp being physically violent with Her.

Now, of course, this is Amber Hurd's sister. Is she a little biased? Obviously, there's a question of that. Whitney also agreed that she still loved Dep after this alleged attack, that she didn't necessarily tell her sister to leave him. In fact, there was evidence that she supported Amber's wishes to stay with Johnny, all casting suspicion on whether this staircase attack really did happen. But all in all, very important testimony for Amber Hurd's case.

I just want to give one final honorable mention for a herd win in this trial, and it concerns the counterclaims. Depp's attorney Adam Waldman issued a number of statements to the media calling Hurd's injuries fake and a hoax, assuming these were defamatory statements. In other words, completely false, they were made with actual malice, ill intent. There's a question if Waldman was some rogue lawyer acting on his own, or was he actually following the direction? of Johnny Depp. When when Waldman testified, he was so limited in what he could actually say because of attorney-client privilege, but another big win for heard was when Waldman admitted that

he and Depp both met with the Daily Mail together, the publication that posted these statements. In fact, Depp awkwardly said on the stand that he couldn't really recall if he had that meeting despite Waldman confirming that. So a strong argument that he really did know. what was going on with these statements and that he didn't just see them for the first time when he was sued by Amber Hurd. Just wanted to make one final mention to that.

Thanks for joining us here on Sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. We really can't thank you enough for listening and making this platform grow for us. We so greatly appreciate that. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.