Judge rejects Heard’s bid to have Depp case thrown out
AMBER Heard failed in her bid to have ex-husband’s Johnny Depp’s defamation case thrown out hours before she was due to take the stand.
Depp is suing over her Washington Post op-ed about domestic violence, although she did not name her ex-husband in the piece.
Her lawyer Ben Rottenborn said Depp’s team had failed to show Heard had acted with “actual malice”.
He added if the actor, 58, had abused her even once, including “non-physical abuse”, she should win.
Depp’s lawyer Benjamin Chew countered saying Heard is the “abuser in this courtroom”.
He referred to her May 2016 temporary order of protection as “a scam” to get a £5.6million settlement that she swore she gave to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles but instead “pocketed”.
Mr Chew argued Heard had acted with “actual malice” meaning she knew what she wrote in the 2018 op-ed was false or suspected it might be and did not care. Judge Penney Azcarate said sufficient evidence had been presented by Depp’s lawyers to continue the case before the jury at the Fairfax Courthouse inVirginia.
She said: “If there is a scintilla of evidence that a reasonable juror could weigh, then the matter survives a motion to strike.” Depp is demanding more than £38million, saying her abuse claims all but ended his career.
Heard, 36, has filed a countersuit against Depp, seeking almost £78million and saying his legal team falsely accused her of fabricating claims against the actor.
Earlier, the actress’s private nurse, Erin Falati, reading from her notes, testified that Heard had downed mushrooms, ecstasy and booze at the Coachella festival in April 2016.
“Client admits to illicit drug use during the trip, ingested mushrooms and MDMA simultaneously and also consumed alcohol and said she was high for 24 hours,” said the entry.
Her note read that her client had reported using “mushrooms and MDMA May 9, 2016, at home with a high-profile acquaintance.
“Client reported her husband was not aware of the male visitor or her illicit drug use.”