Witness

Laurel Anderson

Couples therapist who testified about her sessions with Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

2022 Defamation Trial Apr 11 – Jun 1, 2022

Called by defendant

244 lines 4 proceedings 13 highlights

About

Laurel Anderson testified by video about her joint and individual therapy sessions with Depp and Heard and the notes she kept. She described Depp as overwhelmed by Heard’s rapid communication during joint sessions and characterized the relationship as mutually abusive. Anderson said Heard reported sometimes initiating physical confrontations, including striking Depp to keep him from leaving and slapping him during a December 2015 incident. Anderson said she did not witness physical violence herself.

Anderson testified that she saw bruises beneath Heard’s eyes. She confirmed that Depp was not present when Heard described incidents of his alleged violence in individual sessions. She also said Depp had not mentioned his finger injury to her before June 18, 2016.

Trial Record (4)

2022 Defamation Trial Apr 11, 2022 – Jun 1, 2022 4 proceedings

Day 3 April 14, 2022

Direct Laurel Anderson — Direct Examination Laurel Anderson Adam Nadelhaft 4 72

Summary

Couples therapist Anderson recounts 2015 sessions, describing Heard's self-reported initiation of physical violence and a dynamic she characterized as mutual abuse.

Highlights (4)

Quote

“Ms. Heard had a jackhammer style of talking. She was very amped up. He had trouble talking at a similar pace. Their dialogue, he was cut off a lot.”

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Quote

“they engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse”

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Quote

“It was a point of pride to her, if she felt disrespected, to initiate a fight.”

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Quote

“she would strike him to keep him there. She would rather be in a fight than have him leave.”

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Cross Cross Examination of Laurel Anderson Laurel Anderson Benjamin Chew 4 156

Summary

Chew's cross walks Anderson through her therapy notes, surfacing Heard's admissions of initiating physical violence and strategizing about filing a police report for legal advantage.

Highlights (4)

Quote

“she hits back and now she starts it and sometimes hits him first because her history is having been violated by her father physically”

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Quote

“she slapped him because he was being incoherent and talking about another -- being with another woman”

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Quote

“She loved him. He loved her. She believed that - she wasn't stupid. She knew that what they were doing wasn't healthy, and so she wanted to want to divorce him, but she didn't.”

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Quote

“This was her talking out loud, trying to strategize for herself.”

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Redirect Redirect Examination of Laurel Anderson Laurel Anderson Adam Nadelhaft 4 14

Summary

Nadelhaft redirects Anderson to clarify bruise observations, contextualize Depp's therapy note language, and establish the finger injury was first disclosed on June 18, 2016.

Highlights (4)

Quote

“That's what I recall. They may have been in other places throughout her body; I don't remember. But I do remember her face.”

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Quote

“What I said previously, and I'll say it again: He's kind of doing a retrospective of trying to understand the relationship and is characterizing it as chaotic and violent, that she gave as good as she got and she started it.”

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Quote

“she.initiated fights. She started violence. She rose to the challenge if he started first, which I - and so she - in my opinion, that had been established throughout the relationship, that she fought as hard as he did, and he tried to deescalate far more than I think she did”

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Quote

“No. Because I would have written it when he first mentioned it to me.”

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Document, previously marked as Anderson Exhibit 6, relating to Heard's reference during couples therapy to her own separate therapist.

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Documents Unclear

Pharmacokinetic document regarding neurotransmitter function, genetics, and medications shown to Anderson by Heard

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