Court has ruled that Amber Heard, Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, can be present in the courtroom when Johnny testifies. Johnny’s legal team tried to have her banned until or unless such a time as she might be called on to testify herself, but that bid was lost. That means that she can and likely will sit there watching Johnny Depp testify about why he’s not a wife-beater, and the Sun tabloid is guilty of libel by calling him such.
The case is planned to be heard in a UK court on Tuesday. NGN’s legal team failed to get the case thrown out of court earlier this week.
In UK criminal cases, witnesses cannot be present in court while others testify. However, they can be present in civil cases. Depp hoped to ban Heard by claiming her testimony would be influenced if she was present while he was cross-examined.
In a court order published today, Justice Nicol rejected that argument.
This is a classic abuser’s intimidation tactic, to stare down the victim as they testify, hoping to frighten or otherwise affect Johnny’s testimony. Maybe she thinks that he’ll see her baby greens and melt.
Me, I hope the judge sees this attempt at manipulation for what it is and calls her on it if she so much as blinks wrong at Johnny. It won’t make a difference in the Sun libel case, but any shenanigans she pulls can be carried directly to Depp’s defamation case in January, 2021.
Depp’s libel suit against the Sun is set to begin next week, on Tuesday, July 7th, and could last up to three weeks, before the judge alone hands down his verdict.