David Kulber — Direct/Cross/Redirect
94 linesMS. MEYERS: Good morning, Dr. Kulber.
DR. KULBER: Good morning.
MS. MEYERS: Could you please state your fill name for the record.
DR. KULBER: David Allen Kulber.
MS. MEYERS: And what is your profession?
DR. KULBER: I'm a plastic and hand surgeon.
MS. MEYERS: And how long have you been a plastic and hand surgeon?
DR. KULBER: Been in practice for 26 years.
MS. MEYERS: Where do you currently work?
DR. KULBER: At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
MS. MEYERS: How long have you worked there?
DR. KULBER: For the past 26 years.
MS. MEYERS: Do you know the plaintiff in this action, Johnny Depp? And how do you know Mr. Depp?
DR. KULBER: I've taken care of him when he had injured his hand.
MS. MEYERS: When did Mr. Depp become your patient?
DR. KULBER: Sometime in March of 2015.
MS. MEYERS: And what type of treatment did you provide to Mr. Depp?
DR. KULBER: He had a fracture of his finger with soft tissue loss, and so I reconstructed his finger.
MS. MEYERS: When did you perform the first surgery on Mr. Depp's finger? 13. A_ I believe it was around March 20th of 142015.
MS. MEYERS: And what was involved in that surgery, just briefly?
DR. KULBER: Debriding the vitalized tissue, putting a hypothenar skin graft, restore some of the soft tissue loss that he had, and then also putting a pin in because he had a displaced distal phalanx fracture.
MS. MEYERS: What was the state of Mr. Depp's hand What was the state of Mr. Depp's hand ; 6769 immediately after that surgery? I'm sorry. J think the audio cut out a little bit. Could you please repeat your answer.
DR. KULBER: The finger was injured and he had soft tissue loss and then fracture of his distal phalanx. °Q > And what type of cast was on Mr. Depp's hand after you performed that surgery?
DR. KULBER: It was a plaster splint.
MS. MEYERS: And can you please describe to the jury what a plaster splint would look like?
DR. KULBER: So it's like a cast, but you don't want to put everything circumferential on it because of swelling after surgery. So I believe in Mr. Depp's case, it was, like, the two fingers — I think the third finger was the one that was operated on, so these two fingers, the third and fourth finger together. And it's a splint the plaster on the top and on the bottom that goes around the hand to protect it.
MS. MEYERS: How mobile was Mr. Depp's hand when it was in that cast? to May 24, 2022
DR. KULBER: Well, he couldn't move his third and fourth fingers because of the bulkiness of the splint. Typically, postoperatively, it's a more bulkier splint right after the surgery, so it's not very -- It gets in the way.
MS. MEYERS: Could Mr. Depp grab someone with that cast on his hand?
DR. KULBER: He could attempt to grab someone. I don't know how successful he would be. He had his index finger free and his thumb free, but the other fingers were probably not being able to move.
MS. MEYERS: How long was the pin in Mr. Depp's finger?
DR. KULBER: About 11 or 12 days.
DR. KULBER: It was removed under local anesthesia in my office.
MS. MEYERS: How long did you ultimately treat Mr. Depp for his hand injury?
DR. KULBER: For several months, For several months,
MS. MEYERS: And why was that?
DR. KULBER: It was a bad injury and required a few more little office procedures to clean up the tissue. He had an infection as a result of the injury. So he had to be on antibiotics for some time until it finally completely healed.
MS. MEYERS: Do you recall when the infection developed?
DR. KULBER: It was a few weeks after the surgery, and that's when I took out the pin.
MS. MEYERS: When was the last time that you saw Mr. Depp?
DR. KULBER: Sometime in 2015. I don't recall when.
MS. MEYERS: And when was the last time that you spoke to Mr. Depp?
DR. KULBER: The same. Around 2015.
MS. MEYERS: Allright. Thank you, Dr. Kulber.
THE COURT: All right. Cross-examination.
MR. ROTTENBORN: Good morning, Dr. Kulber. So you said that this plaster splint was put on on -- after surgery on March 20th, 2015?
DR. KULBER: Yes.
MR. ROTTENBORN: And a plaster --
DR. KULBER: Yeah.
MR. ROTTENBORN: A plaster splint, is that sometimes called half a cast?
DR. KULBER: Sometimes it's called half a cast or a soft cast, something like that, yeah.
MR. ROTTENBORN: And it's made of plaster of Paris, right?
DR. KULBER: Correct.
MR. ROTTENBORN: And plaster of Paris hardens like a cast does, correct?
DR. KULBER: Yes.
MR. ROTTENBORN: So other than the fact that it's a little smaller than a cast that goes around your whole hand, it's just as hard as a cast that would be put on a broken arm or a broken hand, correct? It's softer on the sides so the fingers can expand for swelling. So it's not fully - the plaster of Paris circumferential around everything.
MR. ROTTENBORN: But the parts that are covered with pilaster of Paris are just as hard as any other cast, correct?
DR. KULBER: Correct.
MR. ROTTENBORN: And regardless of whether Mr. Depp could have grabbed someone with the hand with the cast on, he could have grabbed someone with the hand without the cast on, correct?
DR. KULBER: Correct.
MR. ROTTENBORN: Michelle, can you pull up Exhibit 400, please. This has been admitted, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. ROTTENBORN: Permission to publish?
THE COURT: Yes, sir.
MR. ROTTENBORN: Dr Kulber, I'm just going to ask Michelle here to just scroll through these PLANE pictures, and I'd ask you to take a look at them.
MS. MEYERS: Your Honor, I'm going to object for lack of foundation for these photographs.
THE COURT: They're already in evidence.
MS. MEYERS: With respect to the questions to the witness.
THE COURT: They're in evidence. Thank you.
MR. ROTTENBORN: Michelle, if you could go back up to that. Stop right there.
MR. ROTTENBORN: Is there anything about the cast that was put on Mr. Depp's hand on March 20th, 2015, that would have prevented him from doing this damage to Ms. Heard's closet on March 23rd, 2015?
MS. MEYERS: Objection. Calls for speculation.
THE COURT: Overruled.
DR. KULBER: I mean, he had his other hand available, so...
MR. ROTTENBORN: No further questions.
MR. ROTTENBORN: No further questions. Thank you.
THE COURT: Allright. Redirect.
MS. MEYERS: Dr. Kulber, how many fingers were in the plaster portion of Mr. Depp's cast?
DR. KULBER: I believe two or three. At least two were, the third one and the fourth one.
MS. MEYERS: And why did you call it a 'soft cast'?
DR. KULBER: Because it's not fully plaster doesn't go around the entire hand because you allow for swelling. So there's plaster to protect the fracture, so there's a little plaster on it. But it's on the top and the bottom, but it's not completely circumferential. So there's soft spots to it.
MS. MEYERS: And where are those soft spots located again?
DR. KULBER: Usually we put a piece of plaster underneath the fingers and on top. Then the sides of the fingers, it's soft so that the fingers can swell after the surgery.
MS. MEYERS: Could Mr. Depp have hit someone with the hand that had the cast on it?
DR. KULBER: He could have hit someone with it. It probably would have injured — damaged the cast.
MS. MEYERS: Did you ever notice any damage to Mr. Depp's cast when you treated him after the surgery?
DR. KULBER: I don't recall. Nothing that comes to
MS. MEYERS: Could Mr. Depp form a fist with the cast on?
DR. KULBER: No.
MS. MEYERS: No further questions. Thank you, Dr. Kulber.
THE COURT: Allright. Thank you, sir. That concludes your testimony. Thank you. Allright. Your next witness.