Johnny Depp v Amber Heard

By: Gabriela Yareliz

As many of you know, I have been following the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial. (Nerding out and feeling like I am in law school again). I get a thrill out of a good cross-examination that corners someone into telling the truth.

Shout-out to The Body Language Guy (Jesus Enrique Rosas) who has hosted three viewing parties during Ms. Heard’s cross examination and AH’s sister’s direct and cross so far, and his commentary has been so fun and educational. He has cultivated an incredible community of thinkers. It has given me all the feels like being on a fun camping trip with a youth group or something. I have laughed out loud and also pondered hard during his analysis with some of the connections he has made. The truth is that while some dismiss this as celebrity stupidity, there is a lot that can be learned by observing behavior and listening closely to the search for truth, no matter who is involved.

It’s clear to me that if you are really listening to the evidence, then you have an idea of who the true victim was in this relationship. That’s what trials are for, to unload admissible evidence. You get to show all your cards.

AH’s testimony has been a train wreck without corroboration, even from the medical providers who surrounded her constantly. Those listening probably get chills when thinking of her taunting tone and demonic sounding laugh in the audio shared.

Rumor has it the jury won’t even look at her, which makes it a more wild scene given that she constantly whipped her head around and tried to make eye contact with the jury. I have faith in the jury. It’s a captive audience. And if you have been paying attention for even an hour, you know what is up. But the truth is that even if the jury sides with her, those of us from the public who have been intellectually invested and know what abuse looks like won’t change our minds. You can’t unsee and unhear this stuff.

Those who still side with her, I am convinced, are not paying attention or are influenced not by the facts but by their own biases and trauma.

“Johnny had cops, nurses, security and drs testify for him… Amber’s witnesses are a few friends she doesn’t speak to anymore that didn’t even want to turn up in court. If you are still Team Amber, just think about that for a moment.”

–@ReptilianToast via Twitter

I started to think about several elements tucked into the controversy of the two parties. Many victims of abuse have come out publicly to state that people like Ms. Heard do a disservice to actual victims of abuse. She pulled a Jussie Smollett so to speak, some allege. Others refuse to believe Johnny, and in their posts reveal a strong anti-man bias (not sure who hurt these folks) so strong that they can’t seem to sympathize with whom the evidence actually points to as a victim of abuse. They would rather side with a woman because it confirms their own biases or trauma.

Some posts state that even if she is lying, we can’t side with anyone else or it has a detrimental effect on all women, ignoring that men can be victims of domestic violence and narcissism, as well. They should be recipients of justice, too. Shouldn’t we just be believing whomever has the facts and evidence on his/her side? These days, we tend to seek a narrative not truth. We want to be comforted in our beliefs, not challenged. Not a shred of credible evidence has yet to be produced that vindicates Ms. Heard. Even her own witnesses (freeloading friends and a sister who all lived and did drugs off of (all expenses paid by) Mr. Depp, for years) testify to not seeing the things alleged in tense rehearsed testimony. And after all the staged photos she has presented, one has to wonder why. There are photos in the public domain and public appearances out there for all to see that dramatically discredit her testimony.

Then, there is the fact that she was cross-examined, and she confirmed herself that she hasn’t paid out what she stated she had paid out to her charities of choice. Piers Morgan had a headline stating something along the lines of: if she lied about paying money to charity, why should we believe anything else she has said. She stiffed the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for crying out loud.

“So Amber Heard’s a liar.. and if she’s lying about paying money to charity, why should we believe anything else she says?”

Piers Morgan

This brings me to another point that society likes to ignore, but is (thankfully) still relevant in court: impeaching someone’s credibility in one thing damages their credibility as a whole.

We seem to have lost this very logical mindset in society. Scripture highlights this concept– we are always the same people.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Luke 16:10

If you lie about one thing, you won’t hesitate to lie about another. And you will rationalize it, too.

Then, you have AH’s legal team panicking and unable to ask a simple question that will elicit the testimony they want. We are all tired of Elaine.

Many of us are waiting to see what will come out of this trial. Hopefully, truth and truth alone. It has been a wild ride.

Clearly, I have already mentally chosen the winner. And I chose this not based on being a fan (because I really couldn’t care less), it became so clear after listening to testimony, listening to audio and seeing these photos and the contempt, arrogance and covert anger during testimony. I hope Johnny Depp gets justice. This trial really makes one wonder how relationships can get this bad and how people stay to the point of almost losing it all. Maybe the reason so many of us (fans and non-fans alike) are so invested is because we believe in truth, and more than that, we also believe in stories of redemption. These are my scattered thoughts. Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk.

“Amber Heard wants us to believe that she was abused and terrified, yet invited her friends and fam to live next door in Johnny’s apartments, bought him a knife, and took many photos of him sleeping but none of her broken nose or other major injuries. Umm, sure.” #DeppvHeard

@JiaWertz via Twitter