The ex-couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are having a mud fight in court – now the bitter legal dispute is entering the final round. The closing arguments were held on Friday. Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez starts, then the Heard team countered.

The bitter legal battle between Johnny Depp (58) and Amber Heard (36) will end on Friday. After six weeks of mudslinging in court, during which the most intimate details of the relationship came to light, the jury has now retired to deliberate. It is unclear when the verdict will be made. Theoretically, this process could continue for weeks. The lawyers on both sides had previously held their closing arguments.

Amber Heard’s defense urged the Hollywood star to take responsibility for his wrongdoing. “He blamed everyone in the world: his agent, his manager, his attorney, Amber, his friends,” Heard’s defense attorney Elaine Bredehoft said on Friday, addressing the seven members of the jury. “He has never taken responsibility for anything in his life. But we urge you to force him to take responsibility.”

There is “overwhelming evidence of abuse,” said Heard’s defense attorney Benjamin Rottenborn. “Mr Depp just can’t prove he didn’t abuse Amber at least once.” A judgment against Heard is also a devastating message for abuse victims around the world, said Rottenborn – “that no matter what you do as an abuse victim, you still have to do more”.

Before that, Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez spoke. Dressed all in white, she appeared in front of the jury. First, she thanked the jury for their patience over the past few weeks. Then she said, “I beg you, give Johnny Depp his life back.”

Vasquez accused Heard of having a personality disorder. “We heard from several witnesses that she could be very kind. But she could also be violent and manipulative.”

To refute Heard’s statement, the lawyer showed photos of an injured fool. While Vasquez also played an audio recording in which Heard provoked Depp violently, the actress made concentrated notes herself.

Vasquez mentioned Heard’s filing for divorce: “She wanted to destroy him.”

Then Depp’s defense attorney brought up the $7 million Heard received from her ex-husband after the divorce. Heard had promised to donate this amount. Ultimately, however, probably only $ 100,000 arrived at a hospital. “Lies over lies. That’s their narrative,” Vasquez said repeatedly of Heard.

The attorney also said there was no medical evidence Depp inflicted physical violence on his ex-wife. Photos that would show the actress with injuries were edited via Photoshop. Then Vasquez handed the floor to her colleague. He said about Amber’s allegations: “This is MeToo without MeToo.” Johnny Depp is not a saint, he never pretended that. But that doesn’t make him a violent criminal.

In his civil lawsuit, Depp alleges that his ex-wife made false statements in a 2018 op-ed about domestic violence published by the Washington Post. This damaged his reputation. Depp is suing for around 50 million dollars (a good 46 million euros) in damages for defamation, Heard has filed a counterclaim for 100 million dollars. During the trial, Depp repeatedly emphasized that he never used physical violence against Heard. Heard claims the opposite.

The two actors met in 2009 while filming the joint film “The Rum Diary”. They married in 2015, but after 15 months of marriage, Heard filed for divorce.

According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, insurance brokers report that Allianz wants to get rid of hundreds of medium-sized companies by increasing prices by up to 400 percent. Property insurance, which companies use to protect themselves against fire, storm damage and business interruption, is affected.

In order to relieve low and middle incomes from rising energy and food prices, Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil wants to introduce a social climate allowance for people with a monthly gross income of less than 4000 euros.

The original of this post “Heard lawyer attacks Depp: “Never taken responsibility for anything”” comes from Bunte.de.