Justice begins in French – in Fairfax as in other jurisdictions in the US. Voir dire, the process through which prospective jurors are evaluated, took place on Monday (11 April) in the defamation dispute opposing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Both actors were present at the Fairfax County Circuit Court, marking the opening of a case that brought celebrities, journalists, and a host of supporters to the Washington DC suburb, 2,500 miles from Hollywood.
Fans showed up early, competing with members of the press corps for neon pink wristbands which, that day, guaranteed entry to an overflow room in which the proceedings could be followed live via video link. This setup was specific to day one, and to the jury selection; in the coming days and for the duration of the trial, members of the public will be allowed inside the courtroom, from which the case will be televised. Depp fans brought placards and flowers, in a setup reminiscent of Depp’s trial against The Sun in the UK. (The actor sued News Group Newspapers, the company that publishes the newspaper, for alleged defamation over a headline calling him a “wife beater”; he lost that case in November 2020 as a judge deemed the allegations against Depp “substantially true”.)
