Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in court.
Johnny Depp will return to the witness stand as a legal team for his ex-wife on Monday, belongs to amberShe plans to subpoena him while she defends against his defamation lawsuit and tries to prove her counterclaim.
Law&Crime first reported more than a week ago that Heard Depp would call as a witness. Some found it surprising that Heard was able to call Depp to the stand as a witness for her case, as he was unlikely to testify in a way that would help her.
“I want to say that a lot of people weren’t sure if that was possible,” he said Katherine Lizardo, attorney for a Texas plaintiff and regular analyst for the Law&Crime Network. “It’s actually possible because in Virginia, and even in federal courts in many states, a party can subpoena a negative witness for their case. An opposing witness is essentially your opposing party.”
NEW INFORMATION: #AmberHeard will return to the booth next Monday and we can tell you that actress Ellen Barkin will testify along with AH sister Whitney Henriquez. And, #Johnny Depp will be summoned to testify @LawCrimeNetwork @lawcrimenews #JohnnyDeppVsAmberHeard
– Angenette Levy (@Angenette5) May 11, 2022
In her counterclaim, Heard alleges that Depp and his attorney, Adam Waldman, launched a smear campaign against her when Waldman made public statements to the Daily Mail Online in April 2020, in which Waldman called Heard’s abuse allegations a hoax. Waldman also tweeted about Heard. He was later banned from Twitter for life.
“They are trying to bring in Johnny Depp to establish some elements about their counterclaim. That’s one of the reasons you bring in your counterwitness to testify for you. But there are alternatives you can use for that. For example, you can use testimony from Johnny Depp to prove that element, or you can use other witnesses or other documents, admissible documents,” Lizardo said.
Lizardo believes putting Depp on the stand because she failed to sense Heard’s attorney is a risky move. Ben RottenbornShe was able to cross-examine Depp. Depp is unlikely to waive attorney-client privilege.
Heard’s legal team played Waldman’s videotaped testimony last Thursday. Depp’s lawyer, Ben Kaurepeatedly instructed Waldman not to answer questions from Heard’s attorneys, Elaine Bredehöft and Rottenborn because the answers would either be considered attorney work product or because the answers would violate the privileged communication between Depp and Waldman.
Waldman testified in the videotaped statement that he spoke to mainstream media and internet journalists as part of his representation for Depp. Bredehoft asked Waldman if he reached out to Rolling Stone in 2018 to write a story about Depp’s reputation and finances damaged by Heard’s allegations.
“I wasn’t the first to contact Rolling Stone,” Waldman replied to a question from Bredehoft. The Rolling Stone story entitled “The Trouble With Johnny Depp” states that Waldman contacted Rolling Stone first. Waldman said Depp actually reached out to Rolling Stone. The Rolling Stone play was referenced several times during the trial. Waldman said he was present during part of the interview but not the entire call.
Lizardo called attorney-client privilege sacred and said Waldman could not break the privilege. Only Johnny Depp can do that.
Testimony will continue Monday morning and Law&Crime will stream it live on the network’s YouTube channel. The Law&Crime sidebar podcast also discussed the issue of Depp being subpoenaed as a negative witness in a previous episode.
Depp could also testify at his rebuttal hearing later in the week. The closing arguments are scheduled for Friday.
Law&Crime Sidebar is available on Apple and Spotify.
[Screenshot via Law&Crime Network]
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