Day 13 · Dawn Hughes & Others
Judge Penney Azcarate · Depp v. Heard · 7 proceedings · 1,868 utterances
Day 13 concluded plaintiff's case — including a contested $40M damages figure — then the defense opened with Dr. Dawn Hughes diagnosing Heard with PTSD caused by Depp's intimate partner violence.
Full day summary
Key Moments
- Depp's attorneys used Falati's authenticated nursing notes to establish that Heard self-reported bipolar disorder, cocaine history, and simultaneous MDMA, mushroom, and alcohol use at Coachella — weeks before the May 2016 penthouse incident at the center of the case.
- Forensic accountant Michael Spindler presented Exhibit 1240 to the jury, breaking down a $40.3M lost earnings figure across two components: $20.25M from the lost Pirates 6 role and approximately $20M from reduced non-franchise bookings relative to the 2017 baseline.
- Rottenborn cross-examined Spindler on assumed causation, the absence of any Pirates 6 contract, Depp's own public dismissal of the role, and the use of Depp's anomalous peak year as the earnings baseline — systematically challenging the foundation of the $40M claim.
- Plaintiff rested his case-in-chief; Judge Azcarate denied the defense motion to strike as to statements 2 and 3 and took statement 1 under advisement, allowing two of the three defamation claims to proceed to the jury and marking the formal close of Depp's case.
- Dr. Dawn Hughes opened the defense case with a comprehensive IPV expert opinion and PTSD diagnosis for Heard, describing specific incidents of physical and sexual violence and directly rebutting Dr. Curry's malingering characterization on methodological grounds.
Notable Quotes
Jessica Meyers
“Client admits to illicit drug use during the trip and states she ingested mushrooms and MDMA simultaneously while also consuming alcohol and states she vomited and was 'high' for a…”
Falati's nursing note, read verbatim into the record, documents Heard's own admission of simultaneous polydrug and alcohol use at Coachella in April 2016 — weeks before the May 2016 penthouse incident central to the case.
Michael Spindler
“Well, that's grand total. That's the sum of those two components for total lost earnings of $40.3 million.”
Spindler's final damages figure from the published chart — higher than the $30M stated orally earlier — gave the jury a concrete expert-supported number for Depp's economic harm from the op-ed.
Penney Azcarate
“The weight of that evidence is up to the fact-finders, so the motion to strike is denied as to statement 2 and 3.”
The pivotal procedural ruling of the day: two of three defamation claims survive the defense motion to strike, confirming sufficient evidence for the jury and formally closing the plaintiff's case.
Dawn Hughes
“Ms. Heard's report of intimate partner violence, and the records that I reviewed, is consistent with what we know in the field about intimate partner violence, characterized by phy…”
Hughes's primary expert opinion — the central conclusion her entire direct examination builds toward — providing the expert foundation for Heard's defense and directly countering Depp's narrative.
7h 5m Erin Falati — Cross/Redirect
Cross and redirect of Heard's nurse Falati: Depp's counsel mines her nursing notes; Heard's counsel authenticates May 21, 2016 photos.
+2 procedural segments