Amber Heard, actress, resigned Tuesday from the civil case between Johnny Depp and her ex-husband without calling Depp to testify.
Heard’s lawyers initially suggested that Depp would be called as a witness. However, they ultimately decided against it.
Depp sued Heard in Fairfax County Circuit Court for libel over an op-ed that she published in The Washington Post in December 2018. It described herself as “a public figure representative domestic abuse.” Even though the article did not mention his name, Depp’s lawyers claim he was defamed.
Judge Penney Azcarate also rejected Tuesday’s motion by Depp’s lawyers to dismiss a US$100m counterclaim she had filed against Depp. According to the counterclaim, Depp’s former lawyer Adam Waldman defamed Heard by calling her abuse allegations a hoax.
Azcarate stated that the bar for deciding whether to dismiss a claim before it is presented to the jury was too high and added that there is sufficient evidence to support it. Azcarate had already ruled that Depp could be held liable for statements made his lawyer, which Depp’s principle team disputes.
Depp denies ever having struck Heard and claims that she was the abuser. Heard testified to more than a dozen instances of physical abuse that she claims she suffered at Depp’s hands.
Now, the trial is in its sixth week.
Depp and Heard both testified in detail about their toxic relationship.
