‘I did not identify Amber as a victim of domestic violence’: LA officer who was called to Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s penthouse after fight testifies seeing NO injuries on the actress
- Officer Melissa Saenz appeared via a pre-taped video deposition on Tuesday. She was asked about the visit to the penthouse apartment that Depp and Heard shared on May 21, 2016
- It was the last argument between Depp and Heard before she filed for a divorce and a restraining order, which she did a week later
- In the court file, Heard included an image of the bruise
- Saenz said, ‘I did not identify her as a victim of domestic violence,’ adding that she did not see any evidence of a crime, including broken glass or mess in the penthouse
- The officer said the redness on Heard’s cheek was consistent with her crying and being flushed
A Los Angeles police officer who was called to Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s penthouse after a fight testified that she did not identify the actress as a victim of domestic violence at the time.
Officer Melissa Saenz appeared via a pre-taped video deposition on Tuesday. She was asked about the visit to the penthouse apartment that Depp and Heard shared on May 21, 2016.
Under questioning from Heard’s lawyer Elaine Bredehoft, Saenz said, ‘I did not identify her as a victim of domestic violence,’ adding that she did not see any evidence of a crime, including broken glass or mess in the penthouse.
It was the last argument between Depp and Heard before she filed for a divorce and a restraining order, which she did a week later.
In request for the restraining order, Heard claimed that Depp hit her with a cell phone during that encounter, leaving her with a bruise on the right side of her face.
In the court file, Heard included an image of the bruise.
Officer Melissa Saenz appeared via a pre-taped video deposition on Tuesday. She was asked about the visit to the penthouse apartment that Depp and Heard shared on May 21, 2016
These photos were shown in court from May 2016 of Amber Heard with an apparently bruised cheek. Saenz said, ‘I did not identify her as a victim of domestic violence,’ adding that she did not see any evidence of a crime, including broken glass or mess in the penthouse
In request for the restraining order, Heard claimed that Depp hit her with a cell phone during that encounter, leaving her with a bruise on the right side of her face
Bredehoft showed the photo photo of Amber’s face to Saenz and asked ,’Do you perceive there to be an injury or evidence of injury on amber’s face in this photo?’
Saenz responded, ‘No I do not.’
Bredehoft asked, ‘What is your perception of the redness on the cheek and the eyelid and above the eyebrow?’
Saenz responded, ‘Its consistent with her crying – she’s fair skin, her face is flushed.’
Bredehoft asked, ‘You don’t think it’s consistent with a cell phone being thrown at her?’
Saenz responded, ‘Correct, it does not look like an injury caused from a cell phone. It’s consistent with someone crying.’
Bredehoft asked, ‘If you saw any signs of injury on Amber Heard or even just damage to the property, would you have been duty bound to make a report?’
‘Correct.’
Bredehoft asked, ‘Now, your recollection is that there was damage to the flat, you searched the entire flat and there was no damage, no broken glass, or anything out of the ordinary, would you agree?’
‘Correct’
Bredehoft asked, ‘When you got back to the elevator is there anything you remember thinking?’
Saenz responded, ‘I remember being impressed by the penthouse, how big and beautiful it was yes.’
Bredehoft asked, ‘When you got back to the elevator is there anything you remember thinking?’ Saenz responded, ‘I remember being impressed by the penthouse, how big and beautiful it was, yes.’ Depp’s penthouse building in LA is pictured
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million over a piece she wrote in the Washington Post in which she described how she had been a victim of domestic abuse
Her testimony followed expert witness Dr. Shannon Curry to the stand. The clinical and forensic psychologist told the court she concluded Heard had traits consistent with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) – two conditions found in people with patterns of emotional instability and attention-seeking behavior.
Dr. Curry testified that she was initially hired by Depp’s lawyers early last year to review files in the legal battle between the two feuding exes and identify behavior in their relationship that may be consistent with ‘intimate partner violence’.
The psychology expert, however, revealed her role would shift several months later in October, when she was asked to provide a psychological evaluation of Heard, 36.
‘The results of Ms. Heard’s evaluation supported two diagnoses: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD),’ Curry told the court.
She concluded that Heard ‘grossly exaggerated’ her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after her relationship with Depp and said that in the actress’s eyes, the actor went from being ‘idealized to the dumpster.’
Dr. Curry noted that Heard’s BPD was marked by an ‘underlying terror of abandonment’ and somebody with the condition tends to make ‘desperate attempts’ to stop it from happening.
These could be ‘very extreme behaviors’, she said.
Curry added that as a result of these disorders, somebody like Heard could appear charming at the start of a friendship or relationship but could then turn dark easily.
Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Shannon Curry (left) described her medical evaluation Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s relationship as she took the stand in the defamation trial Tuesday
The psychology expert revealed she was asked to conduct an evaluation of Heard, who she concluded suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder and Histrionic Personality Disorder
‘You’ll see relationships start very intensely, extremely close,’ she said.
‘This might be their perfect soulmate and initially everything seems great but reality sets in, people are not perfect.
‘Most of us accept people as a whole, [but] with a person with BPD, things are in these extremes, that person goes from being idealized to dumpster, they are totally devalued, they’re the worst….then there will be a repair because the person with this disorder does feel remorse.’
Somebody with BPD is usually ‘very, very interested in looks and utilizes their looks to get the respect they’re looking for,’ she added.
Heard, who wore a cream-colored blazer and styled her hair in a crown braid, sat quietly alongside her legal team and at times was seen jotting down notes as the psychologist testified.
She did not look up as the doctor confirmed her diagnoses but at one point appeared visibly uncomfortable as the expert described the characteristics of such disorders.
According to her diagnosis, Heard was a ‘sophisticated’ and ‘calculated’ case of BPD, somebody who would ‘tend to hit you where it hurts a bit more’ and be ‘very, very destructive.’
Dr. Curry also explained that people with BPD have identity issues and tend to change their interests and values constantly.
Amber Heard and Johnny Depp’s caustic relationship
February 3, 2015
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard marry in a private civil ceremony at their LA home, four years after they met as co-stars on the set of The Rum Diary. The couple celebrate with a lavish reception on an idyllic private island in the Bahamas that Depp bought in 2004 for $3.6 million.
April 21, 2015
Heard breaches Australia’s biosecurity laws when she and Depp fail to declare their two Yorkshire terriers when they arrive Down Under on a private jet for the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Heard admits falsifying quarantine documents and is placed on a $1,000 one-month good behavior bond.
May 23, 2016
Heard files for divorce after 15 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Four days later a judge issues a temporary restraining order against Depp over domestic violence allegations. Pictures of Heard’s alleged injuries hit the tabloids but the LAPD finds no evidence of a crime.
August 16, 2016
Depp and Heard reach a $7 million divorce settlement which the actress promises to give to charity. Their marriage was ‘intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love,’ the former lovers say in a statement. ‘There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm’.
December 18, 2018
The Washington Post publishes an op-ed by Heard, an ambassador for women’s rights at for the American Civil Liberties Union, urging support for women who suffer domestic violence. ‘Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out,’ reads the headline.
March 1, 2019
Despite not being named in the article, Depp files a $50 million defamation suit in Fairfax Circuit Court, Virginia saying it implied he was an abuser and got him fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Depp dismisses Heard’s abuse allegations as a ‘hoax’ and claims he was actually the victim of her violence.
August 10, 2020
Heard countersues for $100 million, claiming vengeful Depp and his lawyer Adam Waldman targeted her with a vicious smear campaign, using media allies and internet trolls to amplify false stories about her and derail her acting career.
November 1, 2020
Depp faces an uphill battle to save his reputation after he loses a libel battle with a British tabloid that labeled him a ‘wife beater’. A judge in London’s rules that The Sun’s 2018 article was ‘substantially true’ and that the father-of-two had attacked Heard a dozen times, causing her to fear for her life on three occasions.
April 11, 2022
After lengthy delays due to the Covid pandemic, the former flames finally lock horns in Fairfax County, Virginia where the Washington Post servers that published the disputed op-ed are based. The trial is expected to last six to seven weeks and celebrities tipped to give evidence include James Franco, Paul Bettany and Ellen Barkin.
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