Washington:
The jury in the bitter libel trial between “Pirates of the Caribbean” star Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard closed the deliberations for that day on Tuesday without reaching a verdict.
The seven-member jury resumes their deliberations Wednesday morning at Fairfax County Circuit Court, near the US capital.
The panel met at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 2 p.m. Friday.
Closing arguments in the high-profile case were held Friday at the end of a six-week trial of domestic violence claims and counter-claims.
Depp, 58, flew to England over Memorial Day weekend and performed at Jeff Beck concerts in Sheffield on Sunday and at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Monday.
Depp, a guitarist, has his own band, the Hollywood Vampires, with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
Depp sued Heard over an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Post in December 2018, in which she described herself as a “public figure who represents domestic violence.”
Texas-born Heard, who starred in “Aquaman,” didn’t name Depp in the play, but he sued her for suggesting he was a domestic abuser and is seeking $50 million in damages.
The 36-year-old Heard Teller sued $100 million, claiming she was the victim of “rampant physical assault and abuse” at his hands.
Dozens of witnesses testified at the trial, including Depp’s bodyguards, Hollywood executives, agents, entertainment industry experts, doctors, friends and family members.
Depp and Heard sat on the witness stand every day during the televised trial, attended by hundreds of fans of the ‘Pirates’ star and accompanied by a #JusticeForJohnnyDepp campaign on social media.
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Video and audio recordings of heated, blasphemous arguments between the pair were played for the jury, who were also shown pictures of injuries allegedly sustained by Heard during their volatile relationship.
Hours of testimony were spent on a horrific finger injury suffered by Depp while filming an episode of “Pirates” in Australia in March 2015.
Depp claimed the tip of a finger was cut off when Heard threw a vodka bottle at him. Heard said he did not know how the injury came about.
Both agreed that Depp scribbled messages on walls, lampshades and mirrors using the bloody figure.
Heard said Depp would become a physically and sexually abusive “monster” during alcohol and drug-related binge eating and resisted her repeated attempts to curb his drinking and drug use.
Depp testified that it was Heard who was often violent and said it was “cruel” to listen to “extraordinary” allegations of domestic violence against him.
“No human being is perfect, certainly not none of us, but I have never experienced sexual or physical abuse in my life,” he said.
Heard, who was married to Depp from 2015 to 2017, was given a restraining order against him in May 2016 for domestic violence.
Depp, a three-time Oscar nominee, filed a libel suit in London against British tabloid The Sun for calling him a “wife beater.” He lost that case in November 2020.
Both sides have claimed damage to their Hollywood careers.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)