Thread by @nickwallis

Good morning from the queue to get into Fairfax County Courtroom 5J. More pre-recorded deposition evidence expected today.
It is one of the coldest mornings of this three week old trial so far.

#JohnnyDepptrial
#DeppvHeard

Fortified by the Fairfax County court cafeteria coffee I am diving into 5J for the start of proceedings. We have more Laura Wasser, apparently followed by another pre-recorded deposition this time from the ACLU who had the idea for and drafted AH’s 2018 WaPo piece.

Which is at the centre of this defamation case, if anyone’s losing track…

Morning recess is being taken. There was no more Wasser to be had this morning. We went straight into Terence Dougherty, General Counsel at the ACLU. Mr Doherty’s deposition revealed that of the $3.5m Amber Heard has donated to the ACLU (the American Civil Liberties Union, a...

… venerable charity with a long history), the ACLU has only actually received $1.3m to date.

There was an initial $350k donation from Amber Heard in 2016 and an acknowledgement from the ACLU that the remainder was a “pledge”.

The ACLU drew up a ten year payment plan but this was not signed or formally agreed by AH or any of her representatives.

There followed a series of donations in AH’s name. $100k from Johnny Depp, $500k from a fund believed to be controlled by Elon Musk, and the most recent payment in 11 Dec 2018 (a week before the ACLU-drafted WaPo article) of $350k from a fund believed to be controlled by AH.

In 2019 the ACLU “reached out” to AH to find out when the next contribution towards the $3.5m total might arrive and according to Mr Dougherty “we learned that she was having financial difficulties."

The Elon Musk connection is interesting. We know from Christian Carino that EM was in a relationship with AH around this time. Mr Dougherty also said that EM knew the CEO of ACLU Anthony Romero and so when Elon sent an email to AR cc-ing AH, which described AH’s $3.5m...

“pledge” over the next ten years, it was because EM was acting as an introducer. The pledge (and the donations eventually made) were described as “unrestricted” (ie they could be used for any ACLU activity), but the preference was that use of the funds would be “weighted…

… towards women’s rights issues.”

EM’s email to AR said AH was making her pledge because she “very much believes in what you [ie the ACLU] are doing"

AH was onboarded as an ambassador for the ACLU after meeting several members of staff at the organisation who said “she spoke with such clarity and expertise on issues of gender-based violence."

AH announced her ambassador-ship in Dec 2018 along with the WaPo article, which was conceived, drafted and reviewed by the ACLU. Lawyers were involved in the drafting and four members of the ACLU’s legal department were involved in the reviewing. Mr Dougherty and HIS team...

… at the ACLU were not involved in the project. “I don’t know why” he said, adding that he had not spoken to any of the lawyers who were involved in the article as to why.

So now onto our second witness of the day...

Incidentally - if you’d like to sign up for the end of play newsletter I produce at the end of each court day, I’d be very grateful - I’m mostly powered by donation whilst out here - the link is:

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#JohnnyDepptrial
#DeppVHeard

Oh forgive me - I thought we were done with Mr Dougherty - the last words we heard in court were “we’re going to change tack” which I thought meant we were with a new witness, we’re not - we’re going back to TD.

TD is looking at ACLU emails between various people in the ACLU comms department in 6 Nov 2018.

“I’d like your and Amber’s thoughts on doing an op-ed...

in which she discusses the ways in which survivors of gender-based violence have been made less safe under the Trump administration, and how people can take action” - from Jerry Johnson a comms strategist

TD says as AH is an ambassador for GBV he was suggesting ideas for things for her to say and do.

Jerry Johnson suggests she can weave in her "personal story" if she feels comfortable.

Asked what that means, TD says "there were a number of things Amber...

… had expressed from her personal story having been a survivor of GBV”

TD agrees that weaving in her personal story was at AH’s own discretion.

14 Nov - the project looks like it’s getting the go-ahead. ACLU comms department are going to write the first draft. Jessica Weitz within the ACLU is leading the project.

but she did not do the first draft - potential legal issues are being raised from the get go. internal emails and emails to AH say

“your lawyers should review this for the way I skirted around talking about your marriage”

and...

“apologies for the delay but we have needed to pass this through quite a few lawyers”

these were lawyers in the womens rights project of the ACLU, the director of the centre for liberty nad the legal director of the ACLU, David Cole.

But not the GC - Mr Dougherty, though he says David Cole is his equivalent.

There is another quote. “I want to make sure nothing in her puts you in jeopardy with your NDA”

TD says this is a reference to the Depp and Heard NDA as part of the settlement agreement.

We go to the another draft of the op-ed, reflecting changes made after ACLU staffer met with AH.

During this meeting TD says AH told her some of her personal experiences and the draft reflected this.

We move to some emails discussing where the ACLU could place the article - NYT, WaPo, Teen Vogue or USA Today.

AH is consulted on this.

An ACLU staffer writes “since the draft turned out pretty strong, and Aquaman slated to do large numbers I wonder what you think about it."

TD is asked if AH referring her own personal experience in her marriage to JD makes it a stronger read.

TD part agrees in generalities.

TD is asked if AH asked for the WaPo article to come out just after Aquaman. He replies “I do recall there was a conversation about...

… the optimal timing for the op-ed piece"

We go to the emails finalising the placement of the WaPo piece.

They are internal emails

“Amber sent back the op-ed with final edits from her legal team which specifically neutered much of the copy regarding her marriage and the DV"

TD agrees AH lawyers did water it down.
[i paraphrase - all of these tweets are paraphrases and summaries unless in direct quotes]

Another email;

“her lawyers omitted the below but Amber would love to see a way to have that part in bold somehow put back in - is there an artful way to do that?”

This is a reference to a line...

… which did say:

“two years ago I sought a TRO from my then husband…

was changed to

“two years ago after successfully acquiring a TRO…”

TD agreed this was his understanding of what AH wanted.

The placement of the article is accepted by WaPo. The ACLU is pleased.

[I have been watching the clock on the video record of TD’s deposition. He is in nearly in his seventh hour of questioning. This is, as far as this case goes, by

An internal email attempting to place the article from an ACLU staffer states AH was “beaten up” during...

… her marriage to JD.

The WaPo headline “I spoke up against sexual violence - and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change."

TD confirms this was the WaPo’s work alone.

TD confirms this is not unusual

We got to a USA Today article which ties AH’s statements in the WaPo article to Johnny Depp and an ACLU staffer notes that people have made the connection.

More internal emails suggest surprise that USA Today would essentially re-write the article and make it specifically about JD “Amazing” writes one staff.
TD is asked why it should be amazing. He doesn’t know.
TD is asked if the reference to DV is about JD. He agrees, that...

… based on his understanding of earlier drafts, it was about Johnny Depp.

We go to an email in July 2020 from a Reuters journalist prepping some material ahead of the UK trial ruling. Jessica Weitz tells the journalist that AH donated the full amount of her divorce settlement to charity.

TD agrees this is not true.

At the time it was written.

Weitz also confirms to the journalist that AH is still an ACLU ambassador.

There are emails between Weitz and the ACLU comms depart discussing the response to Reuters which uses the word “pledge”.

Weitz admits to her colleague this is “safer” and that she’s having “nightmares” about the interest.

TD is asked about this and says this is Jessica being “concerned” about the impact they might have on the ACLU and it work with Amber might be see.

JD’s attorney says that Weitz was actually concerned the ACLU was not telling the truth to the press

[the feed cut to a shot…]

[of JD evidently enjoying this - AH’s failure to complete on her ledge was a big plank of his failed appeal application to the Court of Appeal in late 2020/early 2021]

TD describes this as a “difficult situation” for AH.

Elaine Bredehoft takes over the depo of TD.

He is asked about the words “plan to donate" in the initial discussions about her pledge.

EB asks the difference between “donate” and “pledge”. He says he would be more encouraged that a pledge could be legally binding. Says donation is a much broader legal term.

TD says that everryone at the ACLU was "hoping and expecting” it would get $3.5m from AH, "the fact that the pledge form wasn’t signed cast some potential doubt on that” - then when told she was in financial difficulties they recognised that the full $3.5m might not get to them.

in the time frame scheduled

TD says he has had no indication that AH does not still intend to gift the ACLU the full $3.5m

[TD is now in his 9th hour of being questioned - the “highlights” are edited and agreed by both teams before being presented to the court]

EB says that until JD’s legal action starting 1 March 2019 AH was ahead on her donations. After JD’s UK legal action started...

… AH made no further payments to the ACLU.

TD confirms that AH remains an ambassador to the ACLU.

[For the ACLU, sorry.]

TD agreeing it is legit for someone to make a donation in someone else’s name as happened with JD and EM re AH.

TD agrees EM has made significant donations to the ACLU including $1m and $5m

TD asked if at any stage AH did not rely on her attorneys’ advice. TD says as far as he is aware AH did rely on her attorneys’ advice.

[we are on extended lunch until 2.30pm ET as the judge has a commitment at 2pm. We will be going until 5.30pm ET tonight. This is an endurance test. The judge is former marine, but even she might be a little wearing if she had to queue up for wristbands to get into court...

… at 6am (or earlier - the hardcore crew get here around 2am)]

That said, I was speaking to someone who works in the bar association office yesterday in court who picked up a wristband at 7.40am and sailed in. As I had got there at 6.10am that morning (and only finished work at midnight), I was not delighted to hear it. This morning all...

… the wristbands went before 7am. I am told this is because Travis McGivern (and several other members of JD’s security team) are due to give evidence today, and that this is of interest to many JD fans.]

If you want to support my work, please do donate to the tip jar. You’ll get a free daily newsletter thrown in on the days court is sitting. I’m ekeing out the cash to stay to the end of the trial (in the hope of a quick verdict), but I may use some funds to invest in...

… a cushion. The court’s wooden benches are causing nummus buttockus and the benches outside court 5J (where the hacks tend to sit when filing) aren’t that much more comfortable]

All donations gratefully received:

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Well that was a fascinating post lunch session. Ed White, Johnny Depp’s financial affairs manager gave a little bit of insight into the JD’s financial affairs, from the 2 hour evening meeting on 21 April 2016, where he explained that JD was, financially, in the ****, but EW...

… had “a strategy and a plan” to get him out of the ****.
Basically JD was running out of cash - he had assets that exceeded his liabilities, but he owed millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, and was spending more than he earned.

EW gave him advice, which seemed to amount to...

… sell a few things, do more work, spend less, and you’ll be okay. Which seemed to do the job. He still manages all of JD’s finances.

EW spelled out AH’s alleged divorce settlement demands. They started at $4m and then “demands continually increased” first to $5m, then...

… to $5.5m, then to $7m with $500k to AH’s attorneys and paying all the community (ie shared) liabilities of $13.5m and all her tax implications/liabilties.

He said that the settlelment payments were made to AH in installments. An initial payment of $2m in 2017, another...

… $1m in April 2017, another $1m in August 2017, $500k in November 2017 - so a total of $4.5m in 2017 followed by $2.3m in Feb 2018. And he settled the couple’s $13.5m liabilities they generated during 15 months of marriage and paid AH’s legal fees and all the tax liabilities.

Acknowledges JD started this legal action against AH on 1 March 2019.

Then EW was invited to bring up a little detail. This was the bill to californian company "20/20 wine
merchants” to whom the couple owed $160,000. EW said AH had taken a shine to a wine called...

Vega Sicilia which retailed at $500k a bottle. EW said that since the divorce settlement, JD’s wine bill from 20/20 had shrunk to "virtually zero”. EW said that on the night of her birthday AH had ordered 5 bottles of Vega Sicilia and 8 other bottles of wine.

During his cross-examination, EW said that he dealt personally with JD. AH’s attorney (EW is quite old and formal and addressed both JD and AH’s attorneys as “counsellor”). EW was asked if his firm dealt with Christi Dembrowski, JD’s sister. He said “no”. He was taken to his...

… deposition where he said that “one of my colleagues probably maintains contact with her on an active basis”

He was asked if JD’s finances were in a “catastrophic” state when he had the first meeting with him. He said “No. I had a strategy and a plan to fully resolve them."

He is taken to the transcript of the UK trial where he described JD’s finances as “catastrophic”.

He is asked if AH had anything to do with JD owning a dozen properties, or firing Hunter S Thompson’s ashes in rocket for $500k or buying a yacht and then having to sell it to...

JK Rowling because he couldn’t afford it. EW said no.

He said he charged JD $710 per hour - that was his standard rate for all clients, and that his firm charged JD millions of dollars a year. He said he was not charging to give evidence in court, but did bill JD, by the hour...

… for the time he spent doing the deposition (which I think, further up this thread, you will see tend to last a very long time).

He is asked if he knew about JD being late on set for Pirates 5. EW says no. He is taken to a text from JD’s former agent in which his JD”s agent...

… tells him that he “got a call from Disney last week saying he [JD] showed up 5 hours late for ADR work in London for Pirates 5. I really need to speak to him before he starts work on his next project."

Then we go to the wording of the letters sent to the childrens hospital in LA and the ACLU containing checks for $100k. EW confirms the wording in both says “This check represents the first of multiple scheduled installments to honor the full amounts of Ms Heard’s...

… $3.5m pledged gift.”

We also discover he introduced JD to Adam Waldman (JD’s former lawyer) at a dinner he hosted (although he “did not know” it was the first time they had met).

And he admitted he did not know if AH would be entitled to more or less than the settlement she got if it went through the full legal process.

We finished by EW confirming to JD’s attorney that JD is up to date with all his tax payments internationally, federally and locally.

Next up was Malcolm Connolly, a close protection officer who has been working for Depp since the 2000s, initially looking after Vanessa Paradis and the kids and then switching to JD. Malcolm Connolly gave live evidence by videolink from his home in Essex. He was sitting down...

… but looked like a big man, and spoke with a strong Glaswegian (I hope that’s right - I’m pretty sure it is) accent. Looks like he’s in his 50s or early 60s.

Malcolm said AH and JD’s relationship “at the beginning it was great… all lovey-dovey… good as gold"

Then he said AH “started getting more feisty and be more… demanding… I could see that Amber wanted to wear the pants in this relationship.”
MC said that AH “could get a little frosty at the drop of a hat… we’d get into the car and no one would be speaking"

Added that AH started getting “a bit more… grumpy”

[He did make the point that AH had always been polite and civil with him - very “professional”]

Asked if he witnessed arguments, he said he heard them...

“I can’t say every day, but it got more often than not.”

Adding “I could hear the shouting… mostly I could hear Amber screaming”

Asked if he witnessed any physical altercations, first of all he said “it’s not a thing people would do in front of security” but then...

… said he was watching them get “animated” whilst seated at a table on a private plane - he said he couldn’t hear what they were arguing about because of the noise, but he did witness a plastic lighter “bounce off JD’s chest… and I remember thinking this is going to… go one...

… way or the other.”

He also says he witnessed a “soda can… launched from the mezzanine” of the Penthouse at the ECB which hit a mechanical arm holding a massive TV. “This can of pop… smashes with force and it goes ‘boom’ and starts spraying all over the place."

JD was around ten feet away from where the can hit. Says he could hear AH upstairs at the time.

MC says he never saw any injuries on AH, but on JD he says “it started of with mebbe a scratch once in a while, or a swelling, but it got more, it got more."

MC “most of these marks, most of these things… was happening on the left hand side of his face… scratches on his neck… maybe fat lip in the corner, maybe a bruising on the eye socket… it was getting more regular. Not every week, but it was definitely happening, yeah."

We see a photo of JD on his honeymood on the Orient express. He is posing next to AH and some staff including a chef “great chef, by the way” says MC. MC says JD has marks on the side of his face. Swelling under his eye and on his nose. When asked what he interprets that to be...

… MC says “either he’s walked into a door, or a door’s walked into him.”
[there is laughter in court]

MC says he’s seen JD smoke marijuana and has his suspicions he might disappear off to the bathroom to have a line of cocaine but he’s never seen it. MC says when under the influence of marijuana is perfectly functioning. "He’s got a very high tolerance for any substance...

… Johnny, you know. I would say so, you know. I think Jack Sparrow’s more drunk that Johnny Depp, to be honest.”

MC says “he used to like a wine, but in the last couple of years that’s dropped drastically… in the 25 years I’ve been with Johnny, I’ve seen him drunk twice."

MC describes him as being a bit “happier” when he suspected he was on cocaine: “less down”.

Describes a trip to Hicksville [where one alleged incident of abuse was alleged by AH]
Booze, weed and mushrooms were being taken. Sees AH and JD in a contretempts

… takes them back to their caravan and that’s it till the next morning.

We shift to the Australian trip.

Asked if anything stands out about the trip to Australia. MC chuckles and says “Yeah - Johnny lost a finger"

Gets to the accommodation during that night - there’s screaming, shouting from both parties - he opens the door “and it’s chaos” JD is “nursing one hand… Amber’s irate… Johnny’s shouting back”

MC gets him downstairs, then AH appears and is “screaming, literally screaming...

[sorry there was no “literally” in the last tweet]

… berating him, she’s basically berating him. ‘Yeah Fuck off' she’s saying, ‘Johnny yeah that’s what you do fuck off that’s what you do all the time that’s all you ever do you is fuck off. You fuck off with the guys...

[sorry “your guys”]

… you’re a fucking coward. That’s what you fucking do. You fucking coward. Yeah - fuck off with your guys, you big man.’ all that shit that goes with it.”

MC gets JD into the car, but by the time he’s got round to the other side, JD’s back out and up...

… the stairs into the accommodation and the slanging match starts again.

MC gets JD to his apartment. Starts washing his hand “it’s a mess… like one of those cartoon exploding cigars…

… and it’s all flapping around and i can see bone, there’s bone there y’know… it’s smashed to bits. and he’s wincing as I try to wash his hand.”

MC calls the nurse. She turns up with Dr Kipper.

Kipper says they have to go to hospital - they get him to the hospital.

MC is cross-examined. Confirms he is paid by JD and gets gifts from him. Asked if he is loyal to JD “yes of course I’m loyal to Mr Depp I’d be loyal to you if I was working for you.”

MC confirms that when he arrived at the house in Australia on the night he lost part of his finger. arrives, hears a ruckus, doesn’t know what it’s about, finds JD in the lobby. MC is asked if JD was trying to urinate in the lobby
MC no
JD he had his penis out

MC ?? [obj sustained]
[there is laughter in court, feed cuts to JD laughing]

We are played audio of JD angrily shouting. MC confirms it is him being angry and upset.

MC confirms that his primary focus is JD but he didn’t see Amber with any injuries.

MC confirms that when they get to hospital JD tells the hospital he cut his finger with a knife.

We go to Hicksville -

… MC says he took them to the trailer but agrees that he has no idea what the argument in the trailer was all about, didn’t see any damage in the trailer, didn’t know what the argument was all about, didn’t see JD grab another woman’s arm.

Goes to the testimony about...

… marks bruises injuries on JD that he gave earlier to JD’s attorney. Asked why he never mentioned this in the UK. Said he wasn’t asked.

MC asked about the lighter hitting JD in the chest on the plane and that he said he saw JD smirk and say “was that it?.
“No” says MC

MC agrees he doesn’t know how that argument started.

Also the soda can incident again no idea what happened beforehand.

MC asked about the bruises in the photo of JD on the Orient Express - asked why he didn’t mention them. MC says he wasn’t asked.

Asked why he didn’t put into his witness statement. “I wasn’t asked to”

MC agrees no way of knowing if there was a fight going on in their carriage on the Orient express.

MC agrees that AH has been nothing but respectful to him.

[re-direct]

Says that he was in AH’s presence in Oz for abut 15 seconds, and the light was absolutely fine.

[Starling Jenkins JD’s Executive chauffeur and personal security. Known JD 30 years. Done childcare, PA duties etc in the past - 40 to 60 hours a week]

SJ met AH after Rum Diary - described her as pleasant and cordial. observed JD and AH's interactions as cordial. Saw them...

… argue “it would be initiated by her. she would try to engage with him. He would tell me to turn the music up."

Saw them argue twice.

We go to the argument on the 21 April 2016 - Amber’s 30th.

“No issues, except for the boss did not show” left that evening at 11.15pm

When SJ turns up for work the next day he is informed by AH that she and JD had an argument the night before and she had thrown his private property over the balcony in to the street. Phone, wallet, credit cards, passports.

On hearing this got the office to use the Find My Phone app “hit the streets and tried and get lucky”

Found the phone with six miles from the house with a homeless man. He was approached, was honest and handed over the phone. Was rewarded with...

… “$420, chicken tacos, chips, apples, fiji water”

After arranging getting the phone to back to JD, SJ sorted transportation of Ah to Coachella - took the luggage and the dogs. Saw no injuries no marks on AH that morning.

SJ observed AH and her friends at the Parker Hotel in the suites and were driven by SJ to Coachella. They spoke:
“We had a conversation pertaining to the surprise she left in the boss’s bed prior to leaving the apartment.”
Asked what he is referring to, SJ says
“The defecation."

Sj tells court that she said it was “a horrible practical joke gone wrong”
Asked about his observations of her at Coachella
SJ “she had no worries it was her birthday she was there to whoop it up with her friends."

SJ says AH got sick at Coachella - because she was eating magic mushrooms and drinking red wine on an empty stomach. He collected her and took her back to the hotel. “She was throwing up”

Saw no injuries on her. Never seen any physical abuse between JD and AH.

[cross-examination]

SJ agrees he is paid by JD and is loyal to him.

We go back to 21 April 2016 and that SJ finished his shift at 11.15pm and that JD hadn’t shown up.
SJ agrees
Asked if he had any idea what JD was doing between 9.30pm and 11.15pm
SJ “he was attending to his..

… mother”
SJ did not see JD that night
SJ is told that JD had thrown AH’s phone off the roof that night. SJ did not know this. But says he saw her trying to redownload everything.

We go to Coachella

SJ agrees Ah and her friends were having a good time. Did not know Whitney was pregnant or that she threw up in a parking lot.

BR: “Thre’s nothing wrong with wanting to spend time at a music festival after being abused by your husband, right?"

SJ “what abuse?”

SJ agrees she said nothing in the car pertaining to DV.

AH texted SJ asking him to call her on 12 May 2016. He ignored the text.

SJ agrees he was not inside the Hicksville trailer, or in the Bahamas or in Tokyo or in Australia… etc

SJ agrees he has no personal knowledge of what went on with AH and JD behind closed doors.

[re-direct]

SJ says he knows the difference between Amber and Whitney and AH was sick.

[and that’s the end of the testimony for today and the week, sorry getting to the end of it was...

… a little delayed. I have a complicated workflow which involves being in court and not being able to tweet to being outside court and being able to tweet off my in-court notes and the TV feed. When court ends, I then have to dive outside and grab interviews outside court...

which will then appear on the Reporting Depp v Heard podcast and youtube update. If you have just been catching this in bits and would like to subscribe to the daily newsletter for a one-off donation, then please do!

reportingdeppvheard.net/newsletter/

I’m going to try to get that written and posted in the next 90 minutes as I have a podcast/youtube interview with a PR guru, now we’ve reached the half way stage of the trial.

then I’ll get the youtube update posted, then I’ll go to bed and my colleagues in London will edit the podcast so it drops tomorrow.

And then we’ll do it all again on Monday. Thanks very much for following and retweeting and that.

The place to go to see and read everything...

… is here:

reportingdeppvheard.net

You can drop me a line via the contact form, or DM here, but I do tend prioritise correspondence from newsletters subscribers.

No court tomorrow, thank God.

Have a great weekend…!

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