The trial in the case of Johnny Depp v News Group Newspapers in the High Court in London before Nicol J continued on Wednesday 22 July (Day12), and Thursday 23 July (Day 13).

On Day 13 Nicol J began by indicating that the Defendants’ application to rely on expert evidence in relation the authenticity of photographs would be refused.  He said that he would give his reasons in the course of his judgment.

The cross-examination of the Defendants’ first witness, Amber Heard, then continued.  As previously mentioned she has provided seven witness statements for the trial which can be found here: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.

Ms Heard accepted that she sometimes got angry but denied that she had thrown a bottle at Mr Depp on 8 March 2015.  She denied that a bottle she had thrown had severed his finger.  She said that he stubbed a cigarette out on his cheek.  Her evidence on the various incidents when she claimed Mr Depp had been violent towards her was challenged by Ms Eleanor Laws QC for the Defendants.  Ms Heard maintained that she was the victim of violence.

A witness giving evidence by video link, Mr Joshua Drew, was interposed.  He was formerly married to a friend of Ms Heard’s.  Mr Drew’s statement can be found here.  He said that Mr Depp was using drugs and often drinking to excess but he had never seen Mr Depp hitting Ms Heard.

The next witness, also giving evidence via video link from California, was Mélanie Inglessis, a makeup artist.  She said she was called by Ms Heard to the Hollywood couple’s penthouse apartment in Los Angeles in December 2015 and helped to conceal the injuries so that Ms Heard could appear on a US chat show.  That evidence was challenged.  Ms Inglessis’ declaration – which served as a witness summary – can be found here.

The cross-examination of Ms Heard then concluded and she was re-examined by Ms Wass QC.

The transcript of the evidence given on Day 12 is here.

Day 13 began with further re-examination of Ms Heard.  The Court then heard evidence from Whitney Henriquez, Ms Heard’s sister.  Her witness statement is here.   She said that Ms Heard sometimes had bruises and burns on her arm as well as marks on her face during her four-year relationship with Mr Depp.  She described Mr Depp as “incredibly jealous and possessive” and would get “paranoid”.  She said that she witnessed Mr Depp punching her sister.

Ms Henriques was cross-examined by Ms Laws QC.  She denied lying to support Ms Heard.

Ms Henriques’ cross examination concluded at the end of day.  Ms Henriques will be re-examined on Day 14, Friday 24 July 2020 and it was anticipated that the evidence would be completed on that day with closing submissions on Monday and Tuesday 27 and 28 July 2020.

The transcript of the evidence given on Day 13 is here.

The witness statements and transcripts are available on Nick Wallis’ website.

The case continues.