Amber Heard gets restraining order extension as judge reschedules hearing
Actress Amber Heard's restraining order against estranged husband Johnny Depp has been extended to a new court date.
The divorcing couple was scheduled to face off in court on Monday (08Aug16) over domestic violence allegations Amber made against the Pirates of the Caribbean star earlier this summer (16), but the hearing has been pushed back.
Depp's lawyer Laura Wasser met the actress' attorneys, Samantha
Spector and Joseph P. Koenig, and insisted her client, who is
currently vacationing, would not be testifying before Amber's
deposition.
This was supposed to have taken place in court on Saturday
(06Aug16).
On Tuesday (09Aug16), the judge overseeing the case scheduled both
stars' depositions for later this week (ends12Aug16), and set the
new date of the hearing for 17 August (16).
Wasser also alleged that while Amber had arrived for her deposition
on Saturday, she broke down in tears and refused to testify under
oath.
People.com obtained documents filed by Wasser which claim the
actress arrived at 11.50am for her hearing, scheduled for 10am, but
then refused to leave an office next to the deposition room.
Wasser writes in the documents that because the "offices are made
of transparent glass", she could "quite clearly" see "Amber
hysterically crying and pacing in her separate conference room, or
screaming and yelling at times and laughing at others."
She adds that Amber "appeared manic and irrational" and claims she
saw "Amber's counsel trying to reason with her throughout the
day."
However, a source close to Amber has refuted the allegations,
telling People: "Although Amber was ready, willing and able to go
forward with her deposition, it was not taken by Johnny's
attorneys. She waited for 10 hours and at no time did Amber ever
refuse to start the deposition. There was nothing preventing
Johnny's counsel from commencing the deposition during that
time."
Depp's lawyers also claim that Amber and her team have not turned
over documents that were requested, and have now asked for an order
which would prevent the actress from testifying when the case goes
to trial. They have otherwise asked for a complete dismissal of
Amber's domestic violence case.
Meanwhile, a list of witnesses for the 17 August hearing has been
released, showing that Depp's ex Vanessa Paradis is one of 23
people the actor's team will call upon to refute Amber's claims
that he abused her.
Other people on the list, obtained by Entertainment Tonight (ET),
include Amber, who they estimate will take four hours to question,
the two police officers who responded on the night Amber claims she
was attacked by Depp and five concierges who work in the former
couple's apartment block. The pair's housekeeper Hilda Vargas will
also testify about “a discovery she made on April 22, 2016,” in
their home, ET report.
Amber's list of witnesses has just seven names on it, including her
friends Elizabeth Marz and Rachel Pennington, and Pennington's
fiance, Joshua Drew.