Depp lawyers wrap up cross-examination

FAIRFAX: Lawyers for Johnny Depp wrapped up their grilling of his ex-wife Amber Heard after seeking to portray her as the aggressor in their volatile relationship.

Under cross-examination, the 36-year-old Heard rejected the accusations that she was the one who instigated violence between the couple, who were married from 2015 to 2017.

“I never assaulted Mr Depp or anyone else that I had been romantically linked to,” Heard told the jury on Day 17 of the defamation case.

The 58-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star filed suit against Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018 in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.

Heard, who had a starring role in Aquaman, did not name Depp in the op-ed, but he sued her for implying he was a domestic abuser.

Depp, during his four days on the witness stand, denied ever striking Heard and claimed that she was the one who was frequently violent.

“Is it your testimony under oath that you never struck Mr Depp as the initial aggressor?” Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez asked Heard during cross-examination.

“I tried to defend myself when I could,” Heard said. “But it was after years of not defending myself.

“There are many times I had to use my body to defend myself, and that included swinging wherever I could if it meant I could get away, absolutely,” Heard said.

Heard was also asked by Depp’s lawyers about a report that she allegedly assaulted her then-girlfriend, Tasya van Ree, at a Seattle airport in 2009.

Heard denied ever doing so and said the accusation was part of a “smear” campaign by Depp’s side.