Sean Bett — Direct

DEBBIE LLOYD: Witness called on behalf of the Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant, having been first duly sworn by the Clerk, testified as follows:

SEAN BETT: Good afternoon.

SEAN BETT: Joshua Sean Bert.

SEAN BETT: I'm currently security with Johnny Depp.

SEAN BETT: That's correct.

SEAN BETT: Approximately just over 20 years.

SEAN BETT: I was with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

SEAN BETT: Just over 14 years.

SEAN BETT: Yes, I was assigned the custody division, where we handled the intake and outtake of inmates. Then I was assigned to patrol division, where I was assigned to crime units where we were - did calls for service, proactive, reactive arrests. After that, I was assigned to gang details, where we focused and saturated in certain areas within our district on gang shootings and things of that nature. Then after that, I was assigned to gang units, where I performed search warrants and things of that nature; worked with homicide, worked with special enforcement bureaus to combat a lot of the crime that was taking place in our area.

SEAN BETT: It did.

SEAN BETT: I was in a couple of really bad traffic collisions and during the course of duties, the County of Los Angeles issued a, what they call a medical retirement or discharge. And so, I was kind of forced out, based on my injuries.

SEAN BETT: I was doing some private investigations and I also was doing security, estate security at various residences and offices, and working with different executives on certain details.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: It ranged from CEOs, VPs of Fortune 500 companies to certain types of celebrity as well.

SEAN BETT: During the course of working the estate security and the type of private security, you come in contact with a lot of other individuals in security companies. What we like to call networking. So when you network with a lot of individuals, they call you, from time to time, to ask you if you're available to work certain days, weeks, events, and things of that nature. So I was asked, by an individual, if I wanted to work the estate of Mr. Depp, and I, of course, said yes on a part-time basis, at the time.

SEAN BETT: It's in West Hollywood; it borders West Hollywood and the City of LA.

SEAN BETT: That was at the end of either 2006, into the beginning of 2007, around that time.

SEAN BETT: I have. I have done other work over the years on a part-time basis with other firms, but, primarily, within the last, I'd say, six to eight years, it's been with Mr. Depp and his family.

SEAN BETT: It was mostly estate security. So we controlled the, you know, people that arrived at the estate. We were there to monitor the streets to make sure there were no overzealous fans or paparazzi that would hop fences or try to sneak in bushes and take pictures of the family. And it also entailed taking the kids or the kids' mother to school or shopping or out to dinner. Things that nature.

SEAN BETT: I do.

SEAN BETT: Vanessa Paradis.

SEAN BETT: When I first met him -

SEAN BETT: It has.

SEAN BETT: I started to travel a little bit more with him out of state, and then eventually out of the country and worldwide.

SEAN BETT: They did. I was around him quite a bit when he was in town. In the very beginning of my employment with him, he was doing a lot of movies, he was out of the state, he was out of the country a lot. So once he was back in town, if I wasn't with his children, taking them around to school and so forth, I would be around Mr. Depp and provide, you know, security for him when he went out and about in public and so forth.

SEAN BETT: I had access to him at any given time. He had an open-door policy. I had access to his residence, the inside, all the rooms, at any given time in the event there was an emergency or anything like that.

SEAN BETT: It was. I have access to his hotel room, again, if there's an emergency. I have - you know, wherever he's at, I make sure, and it's mandatory that I and other security personnel have access to him

SEAN BETT: Basically to provide security for him and his well-being. Albeit if he's in a hotel, residence, or when he's out and about in public.

SEAN BETT: Yes. I primarily, now, just work with Mr. Depp, not so much with his children anymore. So I guess you could say for lack - for a term, you know, when we're in the United States, you know, I'm kind of his lead security guy.

SEAN BETT: There are.

SEAN BETT: That would be Malcolm Connolly, who primarily does his European security, although he does come from the States from time to time. Leonard Damian, Mark Gibbs, Travis McGivern, Starling Jacobs.

SEAN BETT: Jerry Judge used to be his chief security individual. He was with him well over 20 years, I believe, and we lost him a few years ago to cancer.

SEAN BETT: I have.

SEAN BETT: It ranged. Sometimes I wouldn't see him drink at all and there'd be other times he'd, you know, would have a glass of wine or two.

SEAN BETT: His demeanor is the same as if you were talking to him. I would joke around with some of drinking alcohol? the other security personnel. He's, you know, my terminology would be he's kind of too cool for school. He goes into that kind of Jack Sparrow mode and he's just, you know, very likeable, whether he drinks or he doesn't drink.

SEAN BETT: I've seen him slightly intoxicated.

SEAN BETT: It's the same as if he, you know, had a ,3 glass of sparkling water. I mean, he's just very low key, easy to get along with and, you know, he just seems to me, I mean, he handles alcohol a lot better than I would.

SEAN BETT: I haven't.

SEAN BETT: I am.

SEAN BETT: From him.

SEAN BETT: I do.

SEAN BETT: She's Mr. Depp's ex-spouse.

SEAN BETT: Probably it would have been around 2011, maybe, maybe around 2010. It was some time ago.

SEAN BETT: She came over to his Hollywood estate.

SEAN BETT: She was very pleasant, very easy to get along with. I mean, she was almost as if she was a next-door neighbor. Just always had a smile to her face and just, you know, just no issues at the time and, you know, I liked her. Liked her a lot.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: In the early stages, it was kind of on a part-time basis because a lot of times, you know, he was traveling or he was out of town working on films and so forth. When they were in LA, I saw them quite frequently, which could have been the days that I work, which varied anywhere between four, five, six days a week.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: Her sister, Whitney Heard, her good friend, Raquel, or Rocky Pennington, another friend, iO Tillett Wright.

SEAN BETT: Ms. Pennington's boyfriend at the time, Josh Drew.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: He was very open and warm to them. He, you know, offered them, you know, whatever they needed. They were constantly coming around the estate. You know, eventually he let a couple of them live in his penthouses downtown for free. He would let them, a few of them, drive his nice Dodge Challenger in and around town and take on trips.

SEAN BETT: I did. They were obviously very pleasant to him because, you know, I, from observing, they were taking advantage of him. So they were being, obviously, extra nice to the hand that feeds them. And that just progressed over a period of time.

SEAN BETT: I was.

SEAN BETT: I do.

SEAN BETT: Yes. The first one, I was taking her from Mr. Depp's property to her apartment in the Its south end of the city, that I believe Mr. Depp was n paying for. She was sitting next to me in the vehicle. She was talking to a girlfriend, or a friend, where they were talking about another male. And she says to the friend, girlfriend, whoever she was talking to, you know, All men are idiots. You shouldn't trust that guy.

SEAN BETT: And then she turned to me and she said, "Sorry, Sean, not you. I didn't mean that." And I just shrugged it off like it's not a big deal.

SEAN BETT: I would say probably, maybe, 2012 or '13, perhaps. Perhaps even a little bit sooner than that. It was a long time ago.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: Well, I noticed they went from being that loving, almost like high school couple, where they were vet)' giddy towards each other. He was very happy, she was very happy, to they started to argue. They started to argue periodically and then the arguing started to progress more and more and more, and it was always taking place because, you know, Ms. Heard would start this argument.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: It just varied. There would be, you know, some days when I was working that I would :5 see her. There would be other days I didn't see her, she was out of town working. So it just really depended on when she was around. And when is she was around, for the most part, you know, she was drinking. Sometimes I'd see a glass in her hand and sometimes I'd see her, you know, have two glasses, if I was in the presence of her and Mr. Depp, obviously.

SEAN BETT: There were times when I went into the penthouse or we were at the Hollywood estate and, you know, based on my training and experience in law enforcement, I could tell she was slightly intoxicated.

SEAN BETT: Several.

SEAN BETT: There was an incident, for example, I just happened to be in the floor of their penthouse, which is on the top floor of this building, I was outside by the pool area reading a book, and when I was walking back past their door, I could hear shouting. I could hear her voice shouting, you know, at a very high pitch. So I didn't rush in right away or anything. I just kind of stood by the door. He was, you know, speaking with her and then the voices, you know, the shouting had dissipated and then, you know, there was music playing, and then they started talking. So I kind of just stood by the door, briefly, and then I went into another section of the penthouse floor.

SEAN BETT: As far as the year or how long it lasted?

SEAN BETT: That could have been, perhaps, 2012, 2013, maybe a little thereafter.

SEAN BETT: Briefly.

SEAN BETT: Well, there were a couple of occasions. There was one occasion in which they had an argument at his West Hollywood address. Johnny told me, you know, just take her downtown to the penthouse so she can relax and cool off.

SEAN BETT: As we were driving downtown, you know, she was crying, this was at the point when the arguing was taking place quite frequently, and I was telling her, I go, I said, Amber, you know, this can't continue. You guys are either going to kill each other or you're going to be in jail. O And, you know, with tears and everything, she says, but I love him and I'm not going to lose him. I said, but you guys can't keep doing this. So we eventually got to the downtown apartments, you know, she said thank you, I dropped her off, and then I went back to the West Hollywood address.

SEAN BETT: The constant arguing and bickering and so forth. Because, as I said, it was slowly progressing and, you know, it was just going to turn out bad, eventually.

SEAN BETT: There was an incident, because, as I said, the arguing progressed over and over as the years continued. He would text me when I was working saying, you know -

SEAN BETT: I overheard her saying to him he's a fat ass, fuck you, Johnny, and you too, Sean. At one time, when she went to throw a water bottle or a plastic cup down the stairs and it bounced kind of in Johnny's direction, but I ended up getting him and we, you know, got out of there as soon as possible.

SEAN BETT: It was a water bottle or a coffee cup. It was something plastic.

SEAN BETT: No, other than what he told me she threw a broken bottle -

SEAN BETT: All right. I'm sorry, Your Honor.

SEAN BETT: As far as a time frame? Well, as I said, the arguing, when it continued, we would always, you know, I'd put him in the car and we would drive back to his West Hollywood address, at which point it just depended on the week, the day, or the month.

SEAN BETT: You know, they would reconcile within hours or might take a day where he would stay overnight at his West Hollywood address and then, you know, I would take him back the next day and, you know, they would reconcile by, you know, talking and she would have, you know, candles lit or, you know, a bottle of wine open with glasses and, you know, within, you know, certain evenings, you know, I'd get a text message from her, you know, asking me to go pick up dinner at local restaurants they frequented.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: Yes.

SEAN BETT: The first time would have been around 2014, I guess, in which he had a - his finger was damaged from an incident in Australia.

SEAN BETT: I saw another injury around it would have been March of 2015 He had a swollen kind of cheekbone eyelid.

SEAN BETT: I do.

SEAN BETT: Because I took that picture.

SEAN BETT: Well, we needed it as evidence in case Ms. Heard tried to make allegations towards Mr. Depp. I was emphatic with him, telling him that's a serious mark, and we need to photograph it.

SEAN BETT: It would have been around March of 2015.

SEAN BETT: It depicts a swollen upper left cheekbone with redness to it.

SEAN BETT: On that specific day, no.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: It was around December of that same year, 2015, he got into an argument with Ms. Heard and she scratched him and he had injuries.

SEAN BETT: Yes. He had scratch marks around his nose area. I believe on one of the sides of his face, in the cheek area, and then, on his forehead.

SEAN BETT: Okay. Okay. Thank you.

SEAN BETT: I do.

SEAN BETT: Because I took them.

SEAN BETT: December, mid December of '15.

SEAN BETT: I took them to show proof that he, once again, had injuries sustained in an altercation.

SEAN BETT: The first picture, there's a laceration on the left side of his nose. It looks like the left upper cheek has slight - a slight bruise to it, and then on his forehead, right above the Is ridge line, just almost to the center, it looks like there's a red scratch mark above his left eye !lo and to the right.

SEAN BETT: Page 2, I see a scratch mark, a vertical scratch mark adjacent to his right ear, on the right side of his face.

SEAN BETT: Page 3, there's a scratch mark on the lower right portion of his chin. There's that same scratch mark on the center left side of his nose. And you can see the frontal portion of that bruise, it's on the left side, under his eye.

SEAN BETT: None.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: She didn't.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: Yes. That was the day or evening that Ms. Heard was celebrating her birthday with some friends.

SEAN BETT: I'm sorry?

SEAN BETT: I believe it was her 30th, 29th or 30th.

SEAN BETT: He had a meeting that afternoon and - which extended into the evening, and that was the, as I said, the night of her birthday party, where they got into another argument and she had struck him in the face.

SEAN BETT: Correct.

SEAN BETT: I was.

SEAN BETT: It was with his accountant.

SEAN BETT: Ed White.

SEAN BETT: It took place at his production - his old production office in the Los Angeles area.

SEAN BETT: When the meeting ended, we drove to his West Hollywood address, which might have been, --

SEAN BETT: Maybe, five, ten minutes away. He had to go inside the house and retrieve something. I don't know what it was. We were only there a short period of time. We were kind of rushing because, you know, we had been running late because it was her birthday dinner, and we eventually left thereafter and headed back down to the penthouses, downtown Los Angeles.

SEAN BETT: To me, he looked fine. You could tell he was in a hurry, and he was, you know, telling me, okay, we've got to hurry up and go to the house real quick before we go downtown. But other than that, he appeared fine to me.

SEAN BETT: He didn't.

SEAN BETT: That's correct.

SEAN BETT: We went upstairs and she was having a dinner with her friends in one of the penthouses, I believe it was penthouse number 5, we entered the front door to that penthouse, Amber stood up, she walked towards Mr. Depp, she had a look of, you know, you could tell she was upset, the fact that he was late. You know, Mr. Depp apologized to everybody, apologized to Amber and told her, you know, sorry, baby, or words to that effect, for being late. She gave him a hug and a kiss and said, come sit down, sugar.

SEAN BETT: She used to call him that quite frequently in front of me.

SEAN BETT: It would have been somewhere between, maybe, 9 and 10:00 in the evening.

SEAN BETT: I can't remember the exact time.

SEAN BETT: I knew we were running behind, but, as I said, I didn't know, actually, what time the dinner was starting.

SEAN BETT: Briefly. I had a couple of Mr. Depp's computer bags and bags with me, and I just sat them down in the corner and then I exited thereafter.

SEAN BETT: I was probably there, perhaps, maybe another hour or two, and then I would have been relieved by the night shift security personnel, Travis McGivern.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: On that day, I started -- I drove to his West Hollywood address because Mr. McGivern had sent me a text message stating they had an argument.

SEAN BETT: Because that's where Mr. Depp was at ! 17 the time.

SEAN BETT: Just he had told me they had a --

SEAN BETT: I have, Your Honor.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: Yes.

SEAN BETT: At that time, she was very critical. She had been suffering from cancer for some time, a few years, I believe, and at that stage, she was slowly deteriorating, so it was, approximately, a month before she passed.

SEAN BETT: I believe it was around May 20th, 19th.

SEAN BETT: Mr. Depp told me.

SEAN BETT: Well, he just lost his mother, so he was, you know, you could tell he was, you know, very sad and he was mourning. And, so, I just left him alone until he needed me for whatever I had to do for him that day.

SEAN BETT: Maybe a month later, sometime in May.

SEAN BETT: In my presence, he would have seen her May 21st.

SEAN BETT: Correct. That would have been a day after she passed.

SEAN BETT: That day, we were at his West Hollywood address. Jerry Judge, his chief security guard, was with me and with us at the estate at the time. Later on in that evening, Mr. Depp told us that he wanted to go down and retrieve some items from the penthouse, and he also wanted to talk, briefly, with Ms. Heard.

SEAN BETT: I was.

SEAN BETT: I did. And Mr. Judge was along with me as well.

SEAN BETT: It would have been sometime after 7:30, maybe 7:45, 7:15. Around that time frame.

SEAN BETT: It was.

SEAN BETT: I did. Myself and Jerry Judge and Mr. Depp.

SEAN BETT: When we first walked in, on the center island in the kitchen, there were candles lit on the table, there was a couple wine glasses that were empty, and there was a bottle of wine that was open. There was also music playing in the background through the speakers that were in the wall.

SEAN BETT: !didn't.

SEAN BETT: After we entered the penthouses, Jerry Judge told Johnny that myself and-

SEAN BETT: No. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Judge and I exited the penthouse and stood outside the door, briefly.

SEAN BETT: It would have been, approximately, maybe, ten minutes, maybe a little bit more, a little bit less.

SEAN BETT: We walked down the hallway to penthouse number 5. Penthouse number 5 has two doors, there's a main entrance that takes you into the living room. Next to it, around the corner, it's a continuation of the penthouse, which is, like, a storage area. It also has - it had a couch at the time and a TV for the security personnel. So once we were at the penthouses, we could go in there, have lunch or dinner or watch a little bit of TV, and then, you know, whenever Mr. Depp or Ms. Heard would leave and I'd have to drive or the other security personnel, we would get a text or they would come knock on the door and we would leave.

SEAN BETT: He had had some glasses of wine at the meeting he was at with his accountant.

SEAN BETT: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

SEAN BETT: He might have had a glass of wine in the car, but as far as the entire day, I wouldn't have known how much he drank.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: We might have been there, maybe, ten minutes, five minutes. We got something to drink and then we exited that, you know, penthouse I described, or that penthouse storage area.

SEAN BETT: We walked down the hall towards Mr. Depp's penthouse, which would have been penthouse number 3.

SEAN BETT: We -- as we approached the door, we could hear this screaming and shouting from Ms. Heard, so I immediately opened up the door and Mr. Judge and I ran in there.

SEAN BETT: It appeared she was shouting profanities. So once Mr. Judge and I went through the front door, Mr. Depp would have been standing directly in front of us, maybe about 20 feet. Because parallel to us, walking in, or running in, there was a wall. It was the way the kitchen was set up, it was almost like an L shape. So you walk in and then you'd have to make a left. So Mr. Depp would have been standing in front of us and he glanced at us. As soon as Mr. Judge and I rounded the corner, I saw Ms. Heard standing next to her good friend, Raquel Pennington.

SEAN BETT: Her hands would have been in this motion. Once Mr. Judge and I rounded that corner and she saw both Jerry and I, she had this look of surprise on her face, and then she looked at Mr. Depp and us and she shouted out loud, This is the last time you do this to me. At which point, Mr. Depp looked at her and said, What the hell are you talking about? At that point, Mr. Judge tapped Mr. Depp on the arm and told him, boss, let's leave.

SEAN BETT: So we gathered -- there was a couple of computer bags that was right on the table, and we exited the front door to penthouse number 3.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: I did.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: None.

SEAN BETT: She wasn't.

SEAN BETT: We exited penthouse number 3 and we walked down the hallway. Right when we were getting close to penthouse number 5 door, I need to get in here and look for something.

SEAN BETT: So I opened up the door for him We went inside and that's when I saw Ms. Heard's friend, Raquel Pennington's boyfriend, Josh Drew, and another unknown female that I'd never seen before, and there was a small dog, kind of walking around.

SEAN BETT: Mr. Depp, I believe he said "Get the fuck out of my apartment."

SEAN BETT: So, Mr. Drew nodded his head and basically says, okay. The female picked up the dog and they exited the front door to that penthouse.

SEAN BETT: He was walking around the kitchen area, living room area. He might have gone upstairs, briefly. I can't remember. I don't know what he was looking for. I didn't ask him, Mr. Judge didn't ask him. Eventually, he didn't find whatever he was looking for and we exited penthouse number 3.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: No.

SEAN BETT: I didn't.

SEAN BETT: I haven't.

SEAN BETT: I understand.

SEAN BETT: Thank you, Your Honor.