Person Starling Jenkins III Depp v. Heard← All People
Witness

Starling Jenkins III

Starling Jenkins III served as Johnny Depp's executive chauffeur and security personnel for approximately 30 years, having previously served in the U.S. Marines. He was part of Depp's security detail at the Eastern Columbia Building and accompanied Depp's party on the Coachella trip in April 2016, placing him in direct contact with Heard in the immediate aftermath of the April 21–22 penthouse incident.

Testimony Impact

Jenkins testified via video about the morning of April 22, 2016, when Heard personally disclosed to him that she had gotten in a fight with Depp and had thrown his wallet, cards, and passport off the penthouse balcony. He described using the Find My iPhone app to locate and recover Depp's phone from a homeless man in skid row. Jenkins testified he observed no marks or injuries on Heard that morning or at any point during the Coachella weekend, and that Heard herself described the bed defecation as "a horrible practical joke gone wrong" during the drive to the festival. On cross, Rottenborn impeached his phone-location account using Jenkins' own UK trial witness statement and systematically catalogued his absence from every major disputed incident, capping his evidentiary reach. Redirect partially rehabilitated him by reading the full paragraph Rottenborn had selectively quoted, showing the complete UK statement was consistent with his trial testimony.

Notable Quotes From The Record

“I arrived early, 10:45, went upstairs to the penthouse. I was informed by Amber that she got in a fight with Johnny last night. She threw his personal property over the balcony into the streets, 9th and Broadway.”

Heard's own disclosure to Jenkins on the morning of April 22, 2016, providing a firsthand account of the altercation's aftermath from a neutral employee.

“$420, chicken tacos, chips, apple, Fiji water.”

The reward paid to recover Depp's phone from a homeless man in skid row β€” illustrates the concrete consequences of the property-throwing incident.

“No marks, no injuries.”

Direct eyewitness denial of visible injuries on Heard the morning after the alleged April 21–22 incident.

“A horrible practical joke gone wrong.”

Jenkins's recounting of Heard's own words characterizing the bed defecation β€” offered without prompting by Heard herself during the drive to Coachella.

“Eating magic mushrooms and drinking red wine on an empty stomach.”

Jenkins's firsthand account of the cause of Heard's illness at Coachella, based on what he personally observed in the hotel room and vehicle.

“Him and his family. And his family.”

Jenkins' instinctive qualifier on his loyalty β€” repeating 'and his family' β€” illustrates the depth of the relationship Rottenborn is using to frame his bias argument.

“If that's what it says, that's what it says. I'm telling you the phone was in skid row.”

Jenkins' response to being confronted with his own UK witness statement β€” he neither accepts nor coherently explains the contradiction.

“What abuse?”

Jenkins' unrehearsed reaction when asked about Heard seeking comfort with friends after alleged abuse β€” reveals his personal disbelief and reinforces the bias framing.

“I walked out onto the street, did not see the phone. I then asked several homeless people if they had the phone. One homeless man admitted to me that he had the phone, returned the phone to me in exchange for the following: 425 in cash, three chicken tacos, two bags of chips, four apples - two apples, four bottles of water.”

Completes the paragraph Rottenborn partially quoted on cross; the full text confirms the phone was recovered from a homeless man on the street, consistent with Jenkins' trial testimony.

“Amber was sick.”

Directly clarifies that Jenkins' Coachella observations β€” including no visible injuries β€” pertained to Amber Heard, not her sister Whitney.

Key Moments

Jenkins testified that on the morning of April 22, Heard personally told him she had gotten in a fight with Depp the previous night and had thrown his wallet, cards, and passport off the penthouse balcony β€” her own account of the altercation's aftermath, delivered directly to a neutral employee.

Day 11 Β· Direct of Starling Jenkins III

Jenkins described tracking and recovering Depp's phone from a homeless man in skid row via the Find My iPhone app, paying $420 in reward β€” concrete testimony about the material consequences of the property-throwing incident.

Day 11 Β· Direct of Starling Jenkins III

Jenkins testified he observed no marks or injuries on Heard the morning of April 22 or throughout the Coachella weekend, providing a direct eyewitness rebuttal to her injury claims from the April 21–22 incident.

Day 11 Β· Direct of Starling Jenkins III

Jenkins recounted Heard's own unprompted words during the Coachella drive β€” that the bed defecation was 'a horrible practical joke gone wrong' β€” offering Heard's own characterization rather than Jenkins' interpretation.

Day 11 Β· Direct of Starling Jenkins III

Rottenborn confronted Jenkins with his UK trial witness statement, which described Find My iPhone as showing the phone 'on the streets below the balcony' β€” directly contradicting his trial testimony of a six-mile recovery in skid row. Jenkins was unable to coherently reconcile the two sworn accounts.

Day 11 Β· Cross of Starling Jenkins III

Rottenborn systematically catalogued Jenkins' absence from Australia (March 2015), the Bahamas, Tokyo, and the May 21, 2016 penthouse β€” establishing that despite 30 years of service, Jenkins had no personal knowledge of any key disputed event between Depp and Heard.

Day 11 Β· Cross of Starling Jenkins III

Crawford read the full second sentence of paragraph 13 from Jenkins' UK witness statement β€” the portion Rottenborn had omitted on cross β€” showing the complete text confirmed Jenkins recovered the phone from a homeless man on the street, consistent with his trial testimony and rehabilitating his account.

Day 11 Β· Redirect of Starling Jenkins III

Locations

Evidence From Their Proceedings (2)

Appearances (3)