The lawsuit between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has entered a new phase. After 13 days, the court has already begun to hear the actress’s side, first through a personal violence specialist. Dawn Hughes alleged that Heard was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of “intimate partner violence by Mr Depp”.
Hughes says he conducted a 21-hour “objective assessment” of Amber Heard, consulted medical and psychological treatment records, studied Depp’s UK libel suit against the newspaper. Sun and even spoke with the mother of the actress.
In his testimony, the expert argued that Amber Heard presented “clear symptoms” that are consistent with interpersonal violence. “characterized by physical violence, psychological aggression, sexual violence, coercive control and surveillance”according The Guardian. He added that Johnny Depp’s alleged abuse of his now ex-wife “increased the symptoms, related to the intrusive phenomenon, with his avoidance, his mood swings” and rejected claims that Heard could have faked symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, as Shannon Curry, a clinical psychologist who testified for Johnny Depp, had suggested.
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Dawn Hughes has already testified in cases involving famous people like Nxivm founder Keith Raniere and singer R. Kelly.. In this case, he also remembered that Amber Heard was victim of parental abuse and had to watch her parents struggle with substance use, which led her to understand from an early age what it is like to live in a situation of chaos. “That environment of hers taught her that she could love someone who hurt her,” she said, adding that she “learned to have this tolerance for cognitive inconsistency, for two emotions that should be diametrically opposed.”
In his statement, Hughes stated that Depp was ‘obsessed with infidelity’ to the point of calling the actors or directors who worked with Heard to let them know that “he had his eyes on them.” He also told the court that Depp tried to control what Heard wore when she was not with him, that he read his ex-wife’s scripts for love scenes and that he was “obsessively jealous” of James Franco.
Most of the episodes of violence and sexual violence by the actor would occur “in these attacks provoked by alcohol and drugs”. The specialist recounted some episodes of physical and sexual violence and described the couple’s relationship as “highly volatile, highly damaging”.
Just this week it was news that Amber Heard’s lawyers requested the presentation of the defamation lawsuit filed by Johnny Depp, however without success. The request was made after the actor’s defense was completed, but Judge Penney Azcarate considered that there was enough evidence to uphold the case.
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The trial, taking place in a court in the US state of Virginia, began on April 11 and is expected to last six weeks. Over the course of 13 days, Johnny Depp’s lawyers tried to prove that the actor was the victim of defamation by his ex-wife, Amber Heard, through the hearing of witnesses.
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The former couple are facing off in court after Depp sued Heard for defamation following a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post. In it, the actress herself admits to having been a victim of domestic violence, although she never mentions the name of her ex-husband. In response, Depp accused her of libel and now she is asking for $50 million. Heard ultimately responded with a countercharge, demanding $100 million in damages.
Source: Observadora
