The defamation trial between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard began on 11 April in Fairfax, Virginia following Mr Depp’s lawsuit against his ex-wife in March 2019.
Mr Depp is arguing that she defamed him in a December 2018 op-ed published in The Washington Post titled “I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change”.
Proceedings begin at 10am each day and run until 5pm
Since the start of the trial, the proceedings have begun at 10am US eastern time each day with a 15-minute break in the morning and a lunch lasting between one and two hours.
Following another 15-minute break in the afternoon, the trial usually adjourns for the day at around 5pm.
Trial runs Monday through Thursday and is set to last five weeks
The trial runs Monday through Thursday and is set to last for five weeks, but will pause between 6 and 16 May, with closing arguments scheduled for 27 May.
In her 2018 op-ed, Ms Heard partly wrote that “like many women, I had been harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college age. But I kept quiet — I did not expect filing complaints to bring justice. And I didn’t see myself as a victim”.
“Then two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out,” she added at the time.
While Mr Depp isn’t named in the piece, his legal team argues that it contains a “clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false”. Mr Depp is seeking damages of “not less than $50m”.
