FINAL STRETCH?

Judge Refuses to Throw Out Amber Heard’s Countersuit in Defamation War With Johnny Depp

Dozens of witnesses—including the actress—painted a picture of Depp as a violent abuser of drugs. Now he gets a last crack at proving he is the real victim.

Amber Heard’s lawyers rested their defense case on Tuesday morning without calling Johnny Depp back to the stand in the ex-couple’s ongoing defamation trial, which appears to be drawing to a close. Depp is suing Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him even without naming him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed identifying herself as a victim of domestic violence. Heard is counter-suing for $100 million, claiming Depp and one his lawyers defamed her by labeling her allegations a “hoax.” After eight days of testimony by dozens of witnesses spread across three weeks in May, including four emotional days on the stand herself and sharp cross-examination by Depp’s lawyers, Heard lawyer Elaine Bredehoft told the jury and Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Penney Azcarate they were done. After an unsuccessful attempt by attorneys for Depp to dismiss the Heard countersuit, they began calling rebuttal witnesses ahead of closing arguments and jury deliberations, expected late this week.

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Sean Piccoli

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