Johnny Depp has been unable to prevent his ex-wife Amber Heard from seeing him give evidence in a defamation case on allegations of domestic abuse.
The actor is suing Sun editor News Group Newspapers (NGN) and executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article that described Depp as a “handcuff puncher.”
The article referred to claims made by Heard, 37, that Depp physically abused her during their marriage. He denies these allegations.
The case is due to be heard in court on Tuesday, after a last-minute attempt by the NGN legal team to get the case out of court failed earlier this week.
Depp, 57, had tried to break the precedents of civil cases and ban his former partner, arguing that his evidence would be more reliable if he were not present in court when Depp was questioned.
In criminal cases, witnesses cannot be present in court while others are giving evidence, but in civil cases this is possible.
However, in a court order issued Saturday, Judge Nicol rejected the attempt, ruling that it would be “unfair” and “would inhibit … the conduct of his defense.”
While the judge acknowledged that Heard “was not a party,” he said that defendants NGN and Wootton “rely heavily on the information that Ms. Heard can provide.”
“[Heard] she will not be in a position to give instructions to (NGN’s lawyers), but she can provide information on which the defendants can choose to act, “he said.
“There is a benefit to the defendants in that she can do that almost instantaneously in the course of Mr. Depp’s interrogation and, in my opinion, it would be unfair for the defendants to deprive them of that advantage.”
The rejection is the latest development in a long-running pre-trial conflict between Depp and Heard’s legal teams.
Last week, the high court ruled that Depp had violated an order in the defamation case by failing to disclose texts that appear to show that he intends to buy drugs. The NGN legal team asked Nicol to reject Depp’s claim on the grounds that he had not provided them with the “Australian drug texts.”
The messages were sent in early 2015, shortly before Heard claimed he suffered “a three-day ordeal of physical assaults” by Depp in Australia.
In late May, the high court also ruled that the evidence of Heard’s former personal assistant may be part of Depp’s case in his claims against NGN and Wootton, after the former employee said he had never seen any signs of physical violence. , but dismissed the evidence. from a mechanic who worked for the couple shortly before their divorce.
.
