A friend of Johnny Depp was ejected as a witness while testifying in the defamation trial opposing Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Gina Deuters, who is married to a member of Depp’s staff and is herself a close friend of the actor’s, gave testimony on Thursday (14 April) at the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia.
She answered questions about Depp’s drugs and alcohol use, telling the court she had seen him use weed and cocaine occasionally, and that she had seen him drink alcohol. Deuters testified that she had never seen Depp be violent or angry after using any substances or drinking alcohol.
At one point during her testimony, Heard’s legal team asked for permission to approach Judge Penney Azcarate. The judge conferred with the attorneys, then sent the jury out for a brief recess.
Judge Azcarate then asked Deuters: “Have you been watching the trial this past week?”
Deuters replied: “I’ve seen clips of it online, yes.”
The judge then confirmed that Deuters had watched clips of witness testimony, after which she told Deuters she was excused.
Deuters then had to leave the court, and Judge Azcarate said she would instruct the jury to strike Deuters’s testimony.
Depp has sued Heard for alleged defamation over an op-ed she wrote in 2018 for The Washington Post. Heard has filed a countersuit accusing him of allegedly orchestrating a “smear campaign” against her and describing his own lawsuit as a continuation of “abuse and harassment.”
The trial started on Monday (11 April) with jury selection and is expected to last a total of six weeks.
