Heard’s lawyer focuses on Johnny Depp’s texts
Depp had previously testified that he took two oxycodone pills – an opiate to which he admits he was addicted at the time – and locked himself in the plane bathroom and fell asleep to avoid her badgering. He also disputes that he was drunk on the flight, saying he drank only a glass of Champagne as he boarded the plane.
But Rottenborn also showed the jury Depp’s expressions of contrition following the flight.
“Once again I find myself in a place of shame and regret,” Depp wrote to Heard. “Of course, I am sorry. I really don’t know why, or what happened. But I will never do it again … My illness somehow crept up and grabbed me … I must get better. And I will. For us both. Starting today. I love you. Again, I am so sorry. So sorry.”
The jury also saw a written apology from Depp to Heard’s father in which the actor said he “(messed) up and went too far” in a fight with Heard. But Depp noted on the stand that the message did not say the fight was a physical.
Multiple audio recordings of the couple’s conversations were played in court. In one, Heard told Depp he vomited in his sleep. In another discussion, it sounds as if Depp said he had head-butted Heard.
“I was using the words that Ms. Heard was using,” Depp countered. “But there was not an intentional head-butt. And if you want to have a peaceful conversation with Ms. Heard, you might have to placate just a little bit.”
Depp has been on the stand in Fairfax County Circuit Court since Tuesday afternoon. He previously called the accusations of drug addiction “grossly embellished,” though he acknowledged taking many drugs.
The actor also spent much of his previous testimony describing the couple’s volatile relationship and denying that he ever abused Heard. Depp said that Heard abused drugs and often violently attacked him.
Depp has argued that his movie career suffered after she wrote a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post, which prompted his libel lawsuit against Heard.
Heard never mentioned Depp by name in the article, but Depp’s lawyers said it was a clear reference to accusations Heard made when she sought a 2016 restraining order against him.