Johnny Depp’s friend has her testimony stricken from the record after saying she has watched clips of witness testimony during the actor’s lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard.
Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 35, in a $50 million (£38.2 million) defamation lawsuit over abuse claims she made in an article in The Washington Post.
Today (Thursday 14 April), Depp’s friend Gina Deuters was called to the stand by his legal team.
However, shortly after providing her testimony, Judge Penny Azcarate said it would be stricken from the record, dismissing Deuters.
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According to Insider, Deuters had described how Heard offered her MDMA at Heard and Depp’s wedding in 2015.
However, Heard’s lawyers then asked for a conference with Azacarte, after which the judge told jurors to leave the room.
Azacarte then asked Deuters if she had seen any of the trial testimony prior to taking to the stand, saying: “Have you been watching the trial this past week?”
Deuters replied: “I’ve seen clips of it online, yeah.”
When Azacarte asked Deuters to clarify if she had seen ‘parts of this trial’ and ‘witness testimonies’, Deuters repeated: “Yeah, I’ve seen clips.”
Azacarte then told her she was ‘excused’, saying: “I’ll have to strike the testimony of Ms Deuters.”
She explained that the jury would be told not to take what she said into consideration when deliberating.
When they returned to the room, Azacarte told the jurors: "The court is striking the testimony of Georgina 'Gina' Deuters from the record in its entirety."
Earlier today, the couple’s marriage counsellor also shared a video deposition, in which she said there was ‘mutual abuse’ in their relationship.
Dr Laurel Anderson said that she saw Depp and Heard for a total of four sessions, recalling how, in one of these appointments, one of the pair had walked out – although she could not recall who it was, adding that both had threatened to do so during their time together.
Anderson, a marriage counsellor based in Los Angeles, said Heard had a ‘jackhammer’ style of talking, saying: “She was very amped up. He had trouble talking at the same pace. Their dialogue, he had trouble keeping up ... He couldn't keep up with her rapid fire way of her conversation. And so he was really overwhelmed.”
She added: “They engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse. I know she led on more than one occasion, and started it ... "Abandonment and having him leave was her worst nightmare.
“And I think he may have initiated it on occasions. But that I am less sure of.”
Topics: Johnny Depp, US News
Jess Hardiman