Marie Sadanaga
Marie Sadanaga is a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, serving as its domestic violence coordinator and the department's designated "person most knowledgeable" about DV response. She oversees how the LAPD as a whole responds to domestic violence calls across the department. She was called by Heard's legal team to provide expert testimony on LAPD policy and California state documentation requirements for DV incidents.
Testimony Impact
Sadanaga testified on LAPD's mandatory documentation requirements for DV calls, establishing that officers must file an incident report when no crime is found but a victim expresses fear. Reviewing the May 2016 penthouse call log, she interpreted the "verbal dispute" notation as LAPD shorthand for a call where no report was taken—not an investigation that was completed and cleared. On cross-examination, Depp's counsel elicited that officers cannot compel an uncooperative victim to speak, but Sadanaga confirmed that visible injuries allow officers to pursue probable cause independently of victim cooperation. On redirect, she reaffirmed the mandatory investigative duty when injury is observed, and explained that incident reports exist to document patterns across multiple incidents for future prosecutions—making the absence of any report from the May 2016 call potentially significant to both parties' accounts.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“If officers determined that there was domestic violence, even if a victim is reluctant, our policy is they still make that arrest, if a suspect is there, or take the report.”
Establishes that victim non-cooperation does not excuse officers from making an arrest or report when DV is determined to have occurred—contextualizing the May 2016 response.
“officers would commonly use the phrase "verbal dispute" to document when a report was not taken.”
Directly contextualizes the 'verbal dispute' notation in the May 2016 incident call as signaling the responding officers did not file a report.
“domestic violence incident reports are reports where there are no crime, and that is why we have them, so we can document and have a history of calls”
Explains the purpose of non-crime incident reports and the department's obligation to maintain a documented history of DV calls regardless of outcome.
“We take an incident report when we determine there is no crime, but that one of the parties is in fear that either their life was in danger or they could be a victim of some type of serious bodily injury.”
Defines the documentation threshold separating a formal incident report from the minimal daily-log entry — central to interpreting what the May 2016 officers' documentation choice implies.
“if they really don't want to tell us, we can't force them”
Acknowledges the hard limit of officer authority with uncooperative victims, contextualizing why no formal report was taken if Heard declined to engage.
“you do have the visible injury and, you know, evidence of some type of struggle, so they would need to try to get that probable cause to determine that there was a crime that created that injury”
Establishes that visible injuries would have obligated officers to act regardless of victim cooperation — the corollary being that no such action was taken in May 2016.
“To do an investigation to determine if that injury was a result of a crime.”
Establishes the baseline mandatory obligation when officers observe visible injury at a DV scene.
“The officers still need to do an investigation if there's a visible injury. Because we have to determine if there was a crime.”
Reaffirms the investigative duty in direct response to a question about officer discretion — there is none when injury is visible.
“So for us, as officers, we document those so if in the future there is a crime, we can go back and say there have been all these other incidents.”
Explains the forward-looking purpose of DV incident reports, supporting the argument that failure to document the May 2016 call was a departure from protocol.
Key Moments
Sadanaga establishes her role as LAPD's person most knowledgeable on domestic violence, grounding her subsequent protocol testimony in institutional authority before any policy standards are applied to the May 2016 facts.
Day 19 · Direct of Marie Sadanaga
She explains the mandatory arrest-or-report policy for DV-determined calls even when victims are reluctant, setting the baseline against which the May 2016 officers' response will be measured throughout the examination.
Day 19 · Direct of Marie Sadanaga
Sadanaga interprets the May 2016 call log's 'verbal dispute' notation as the phrase officers commonly use when no report was taken — clarifying that the entry signals absence of documentation, not a completed investigation.
Day 19 · Direct of Marie Sadanaga
She walks through DV supplemental report Form 15.40.02 and its required victim-observation and crime-scene checklists, establishing the full documentation that California law required if officers found any evidence of DV at the penthouse.
Day 19 · Direct of Marie Sadanaga
Under cross-examination, Sadanaga lays out three documentation tiers — crime, no crime but fear, no fear and no injury — confirming the lowest tier generates only a daily field activity log, which is what the May 2016 call produced.
Day 19 · Cross of Marie Sadanaga
She concedes that officers cannot force an uncooperative victim to speak, then draws the critical exception: visible injuries or scene evidence of struggle would require officers to pursue probable cause entirely independently of the victim's cooperation.
Day 19 · Cross of Marie Sadanaga
On redirect, Sadanaga confirms a mandatory duty to investigate any visible injury at a DV scene regardless of victim cooperation, directly rebutting any implication from cross that officer discretion excused inaction if injuries were present.
Day 19 · Redirect of Marie Sadanaga
She explains the forward-looking purpose of DV incident reports — documenting non-crime calls so a pattern is on record if future crimes occur — framing the complete absence of a May 2016 report as a potential departure from standard protocol.
Day 19 · Redirect of Marie Sadanaga
Locations
Evidence From Their Proceedings (3)
CAD Summary / Incident Recall — May 21, 2016 Penthouse Call
The Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) summary and incident recall for the May 21, 2016 call to 849 S. Broadway, coded 242D (battery/DV), recording the call timeline (initiation 8:35…
Catalog entry →LAPD Domestic Violence Supplemental Report Form (Form 15.40.02)
The LAPD Domestic Violence Supplemental Report form containing victim observation checklists, victim emotional state assessments, crime scene indicators, and approximately 70…
Catalog entry →LAPD Chief of Police Memo — DV Supplemental Report Form Revision (Nov. 24, 2014)
A November 24, 2014 memo from the Office of the Chief of Police announcing the revision of the LAPD Domestic Violence Supplemental Report Form to provide a more concise picture of…
Catalog entry →