Richard Gilbert
Hand and upper extremity surgeon with 22 years of experience, specializing in orthopedic surgery of the hand. Accepted by the court without objection as an expert in orthopedic surgery specializing in the hand. Retained by Depp's legal team to evaluate medical records, X-rays, photographs, and testimony related to Depp's right middle finger injury sustained in Australia in March 2015, and to testify in rebuttal to Heard's expert Dr. Richard Moore.
Testimony Impact
Gilbert testified that Depp's comminuted distal phalanx fracture — characterized by clean-edged soft tissue loss — is consistent with a vodka bottle thrown against a marble bar and called Heard's alternative account (Depp punching a phone into a wall) "highly unlikely." He walked the jury through Plaintiff's Exhibit 60 X-rays and systematically dismantled Dr. Moore's opinions on injury direction, required force, and the significance of absent glass fragments. On cross, Rottenborn impeached him with his March deposition, establishing that Heard herself testified she did not know how the finger was injured — undercutting Gilbert's repeated references to "Ms. Heard's account" — and catalogued physical evidence gaps: no glass in the wound, no nailbed damage, no bruising elsewhere on the hand. On redirect, Gilbert reframed those absences: isolated finger injuries are possible with any mechanism, but wall-punching would more likely injure multiple fingers, making alternatives to the thrown-bottle theory less plausible.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“he had what we described as a comminuted fracture of the distal phalanx, meaning there was a fracture of the tip of the finger, and comminuted meaning that there were multiple pieces. So this is some type of blunt force with a high mechanism of injury.”
Establishes the injury's severity and mechanical requirements, framing the expert analysis that follows.
“I think that's highly unlikely.”
Direct expert assessment of Heard's explanation that Depp's finger was injured by punching a phone against a wall.
“I certainly believe that a vodka bottle that was thrown from a distance against a hand that was resting on a marble bar is more than sufficient force to result in this fracture and soft tissue loss.”
Directly rebuts Dr. Moore's defense opinion that a vodka bottle lacked sufficient force to cause the injury.
“No. Nobody can definitively state.”
Gilbert acknowledges the limits of forensic certainty while having already established which account is medically consistent and which is not.
“I agree, but I cannot speak for her.”
Gilbert concedes Heard did not claim the phone caused the finger loss, while hedging with a distancing qualifier.
“No, I said it could have, I did not say that it did,”
Gilbert pushes back on Rottenborn's characterization of the hand-movement theory, setting up the deposition impeachment.
“"Answer: No. Just that if it completely hit on the back of the finger, then he would have had a nailbed injury, which he did not."”
Gilbert reads his own deposition confirming he had read nothing suggesting the hand moved — the stated basis for his hand-movement belief was inference, not evidence.
“if you're punching against a wall, you would more likely see multiple injuries to multiple fingers”
Explains why the absence of other hand injuries is consistent with a thrown bottle but inconsistent with wall-punching, directly countering the cross-examination's framing.
“it certainly makes other potential causes of injury more unlikely, meaning punching against the wall or getting the hand slammed in a door or something like that”
Reframes the absence-of-injury point raised on cross: rather than undermining his theory, it strengthens it by ruling out alternative mechanisms.
Key Moments
Gilbert is qualified and accepted without objection as an expert in orthopedic surgery specializing in the hand, establishing his authority before the jury.
Day 23 · Direct of Richard Gilbert
Gilbert publishes Plaintiff's Exhibit 60 X-rays to the jury and walks through the injury's characteristics — a comminuted fracture with clean-edged soft tissue loss — to anchor his mechanism analysis in the physical evidence.
Day 23 · Direct of Richard Gilbert
Gilbert delivers his core opinion: Depp's injury is consistent with a thrown vodka bottle striking a hand resting on a marble bar, and Heard's wall-punching account is 'highly unlikely' because punching typically produces blunt-force, multi-finger patterns rather than the isolated, high-velocity fracture observed.
Day 23 · Direct of Richard Gilbert
Gilbert rebuts Dr. Moore point by point — disputing Moore's palmar characterization (the wound was oblique), his avulsion theory (clean edges contradict pinching), and his force assessment (a vodka bottle thrown from distance is more than sufficient).
Day 23 · Direct of Richard Gilbert
Rottenborn reads from Gilbert's March 17 deposition to establish that Gilbert had previously acknowledged Heard testified she did not see Depp's finger 'go off' and did not know what caused it — undermining Gilbert's consistent trial framing of 'Ms. Heard's account.'
Day 23 · Cross of Richard Gilbert
Rottenborn enumerates the physical evidence gaps in the thrown-bottle theory: no glass recovered from the wound, no nailbed or fingernail injury, and no cuts or bruising elsewhere on the hand — closing with the suggestion that the injury simply did not occur as Depp describes.
Day 23 · Cross of Richard Gilbert
On redirect, Gilbert reframes the cross-examination's absence-of-injury point: the lack of damage to other fingers is not neutral — it cuts against wall-punching, which would more likely produce multiple-finger injuries, making alternative causes 'more unlikely' rather than undermining the thrown-bottle theory.
Day 23 · Redirect of Richard Gilbert
Locations
Evidence From Their Proceedings (2)
Plaintiff's Ex. 60 — X-rays, Depp's Right Middle Finger (Gilbert)
Two X-rays of Johnny Depp's right middle finger taken after the Australia injury, showing the comminuted fracture at the distal phalanx, published to the jury as a demonstrative…
Catalog entry →Richard Gilbert's sworn deposition taken March 17, 2022, referenced at pages 61
Richard Gilbert's sworn deposition taken March 17, 2022, referenced at pages 61 (document page 16) and pages 25–26 (document page 7).
Catalog entry →