Amber Heard Rests Case In $50 Million Defamation Trial

Amber Heard's legal team started today in court by resting their defence case, as Depp's $50 million defamation trial against his ex-wife continues.

According to Sierra Gillespie, Law and Crime Network Executive Producer and Correspondent, before the jury was brought in, Depp's site motioned for Heard's $100m counterclaim to be dismissed.

Chew is arguing that Heard's counterclaim should be dropped as it was not Depp who made defamatory statements about her, but his attorney at the time, Adam Waldman. Because of this, he believes Depp cannot be held accountable.

“There is no evidence Mr Waldman knew the statements to be false,” Chew told Judge Penney Azcarate.

“There is no evidence of any communication of information between Mr Depp and Mr Waldman regarding the counterclaim statements.”

Yesterday (Monday 23 May), Heard's team announced they would not be calling Johnny Depp to the stand, as previously expected.

It was understood the Pirates of the Caribbean actor would be called to testify this week by his ex-wife's lawyers.

However, in a statement to the press, her lawyers said 'calling Depp back to the stand would be as relevant to us as a bicycle to a fish'.

They added: "Everything Depp has testified up to this point has been irrelevant to the heart of this case, and there’s no reason to believe it would be any different now."

Depp is expected to return to the stand as a rebuttal witness by his own legal team.

His ex-girlfriend Kate Moss is also now due to address the court, following Heard's comments about rumours that Depp had pushed the supermodel down a flight of stairs.

Depp's legal team appeared to celebrate the moment in court, as legal experts suggested Heard name-dropping Moss on the stand could give them opportunity to bring the supermodel in as an impeachment witness.

According to the Press Association, citing a 'source close to Mr Depp', 48-year-old Moss - who dated the actor in the 1990s - is believed to be set to give evidence to court via video link on Wednesday 25 May. 

During the previous UK defamation case against The Sun, Heard claimed she'd been told by two people about the rumour.

However, entertainment lawyer Mitra Ahouraian told the New York Post at the time of Heard's statement: “That’s one mistake that [Amber Heard] made was bringing up Kate Moss, which potentially opened the door to [Depp’s team] bringing [Moss] on as an impeachment witness – and Moss saying, 'This never happened.'"