Johnny Depp hugs his lawyer Camille Vasquez after questioning Amber Heard at the trial in Farirfax, Virginia. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (AP)
Would you give a huge hunting knife to someone you are afraid of and who assaults you?
That is the question that Johnny Depp's lawyer, Camille Vasquez, seemed to leave floating in the environment at Tuesday's session in the trial that confronts the actor with her ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Vasquez embarrassed the actress over and over again, though she stuck to her version.
The goal, in a trial in which the two versions are diametrically opposed, was to undermine Heard's credibility.
According to the smiles that appeared on Depp's face and the hug he gave his lawyer at the end of the interrogation, the actor believes that he succeeded.
Depending on who you listen to, Depp was an aggressive abuser, capable of raping his wife with a bottle and attacking her over and over again, or the victim of a marriage in which Heard was the one who humiliated and even attacked him.
The trial airs a civil lawsuit, in which both accuse each other of defamation.
Depp filed the lawsuit and claims 50 million dollars for an article published in
The Washington Post
in which she presented herself as a victim of abuse.
Heard fired back, considers herself wronged and claims $100 million.
A jury will have to say who is right.
Amber Heard, at one point in her statement on Tuesday. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (AP)
The end of the session on Monday already left several dialectical scuffles between Vasquez and Heard, among them when the lawyer made the actress recognize that she had not yet paid the seven million she received for her divorce to a charity, as she promised to do .
After that appetizer, the expectation was maximum.
Dozens of people, mainly Depp supporters, queued overnight at the Fairfax courthouse to secure a seat in the courtroom on Tuesday.
From the beginning the dialectical exchange was perceived as a duel.
The most theatrical moment came shortly after the session began.
The lawyer made a court official come out with a large knife, a gift from Heard to Depp in 2012, in which she was engraved with the phrase in Spanish "Hasta la muerte".
Vasquez had gotten Heard to say shortly before that Depp was already assaulting her in 2012, so when the officer showed him the knife, his words were: "That's the knife you gave to the man who was hitting her, right?"
The subliminal message was another.
A court officer with the knife that Amber Heard gave to Johnny Depp. POOL (REUTERS)
Vasquez also tried to corner Depp about a fight between the pair in Australia.
She accuses him of assaulting her, throwing objects at her wall and raping her with a bottle.
He says she was the one who threw a bottle at him and severed the tip of one of her fingers.
At the trial, the lawyer showed photos of graffiti on the mirrors that show that this relationship was not very healthy.
She tried to get Heard to establish a sequence of events, but the actress evasively escaped.
The lawyer then played him a recording in which they both remembered "the big fight" they had in Australia and from which it seemed to be deduced that he claimed that he had tried to go to five bathrooms and two bedrooms to get away from Heard and that she was following him. .
The most tense exchange arrived:
— That's what really happened in Australia.
Isn't that right, Mrs. Heard?
— The first night I knocked on a bathroom door.
— No to the bathroom door, five bathroom doors and two bedrooms.
“That's not the correct story of what happened in that time period.
— The recording we just heard is exactly what happened in Australia.
Mr. Depp lost the tip of his finger after you threw a bottle at him.
It is not like this?
“That is wrong.
'You're the one who hit someone with the bottle in Australia.
Isn't that correct?
“I didn't assault Johnny in Australia.
I have never attacked him.
He couldn't.
— And when he was wounded, he had to run away from you.
In five bathrooms, two bedrooms
— That is incorrect.
— And you chased him.
“That is wrong.
Vasquez: You're the one that assaulted someone with a bottle in Australia isn't that right, Miss Heard?#AmberHeard - I didn't assault Johnny in Australia.
I didn't assault Johnny ever.
#JohnnyDepp pic.twitter.com/9inp6ip1TG
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) May 17, 2022
That continued to be the tone of the interrogation.
The lawyer made her admit that sometimes she also took drugs, just what she has accused Depp of throughout the trial.
Vasquez showed an exchange of messages in which Heard wrote: “Hey, baby, bring me something to drink and a joint.
I'm in if you do."
Vasquez also accused Heard of editing a photo of her to make it appear that she had a strong red mark on her face.
Heard was especially offended when the lawyer told her that it was Depp who got her the role in Aquaman.
“No, Mrs. Vasquez, I auditioned for that role,” Heard replied.
And in the diet of the lawyer Vasquez the ration of dirty rags was not lacking either.
She recalled Heard's arrest at the Seattle airport in 2009 for an incident with his then-girlfriend, photographer Tasya van Ree.
Both have denied that it was an episode of mistreatment and attributed the arrest to homophobia of the agents.
Depp's lawyer made her display of toughness with Heard's own lawyer when she tried to resume her statement and guide her responses.
Vasquez did not stop protesting over and over again, until his rival despaired.
“protest”, “protest”, “protest”.
SEE IT: #JohnnyDepp's attorney objected several times while #AmberHeard was on the stand during redirect.
@LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/kzmasY6762
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) May 17, 2022
After Heard's statement, some witnesses have begun to parade by teleconference or with recordings.
Nothing they have said this Tuesday has tipped the balance decisively.
In the end, the big question for the jury is who do you believe of the two: Johnny Depp or Amber Heard.
They both sound convincing.
They are both professional actors.
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