Johnny Depp: Likely Guilty Of Domestic Violence If Amber Heard’s Pictures And Statements Are Considered In Court

Amber Heard’s neighbour Raquel Rose Pennington, “has submitted a deposition to the court to support allegations that Johnny Depp has abused the 30 year-old actress” as reported by Yahoo Entertainment.

Regardless of Heard’s submission, if Pennington’s claims are true, Johnny Depp has committed textbook domestic abuse.

Here are the main parts of the deposition that relate to domestic abuse:

Pennington claims Heard asked her to come over to Depp and Heard’s penthouse. Upon entering, Pennington saw Heard on the couch with her head down as Johnny “screamed” at her. Pennington claims she “begged” Johnny to stop screaming, during which Depp “slapped” Pennington’s hands away and “screamed foul obscenities” at her.

So far we have verbal abuse and the use of force during an argument.

Pennington goes on to say that Depp “picked up a magnum-sized bottle of wine he had been drinking out of, and he started swinging it around like a baseball bat smashing everything he could.”

Common behavior for a domestic abuser, where breaking possessions or striking objects is a way to terrorize the victim into submission.

Depp’s lawyer claim the 30-year-old actress is trying to “secure premature financial resolution,” which is a common tactic used by the defense in a case between the rich and (in this case) much less rich. It will be interesting to see if Heard’s mental state will be questioned by the defense as a way to prove Depp’s innocence — very common practice in cases of domestic abuse.

Heard is halfway there in her fight against Depp, as she was successfully granted a restraining order against the 52-year-old actor. The Guardian reported that the restraining order was granted to her based on the allegation that Depp “violently attacked” Heard on Saturday night in their apartment, as well as photographs submitted to the court showing Heard with a large bruise on her face, as well as broken bottles, picture frames and shattered glass on the floor.

Heard filed her own statement claiming Depp “began obsessing over something that wasn’t true and became extremely angry.” Heard claims this is what led Depp to whip his cellphone at her face. Heard writes Depp “continued screaming at me, pulling my hair, striking me and violently grabbing my face.”

If the obsessing had to do with jealousy or insecurity of some kind, these are also common traits of a domestic abuser, not to mention the terrifying physical abuse Heard claims she endured.

Depp’s lawyers have recently went on record to say that Depp is “unable to attend the hearing on this matter and has not heard Amber’s specific allegations against him.”

There have been many high-profile cases of abuse in the recent past. Part of the reason why many women lose these cases is that they wait too long and thus their testimony becomes weaker as the days, months, and years go by between the allegation of domestic abuse and the date it allegedly took place on. The abused need to have concrete evidence and act immediately in order to give themselves the best chance at justice.

Regardless of if her claims are true or not, if they are, Heard has given herself a good chance in court by reporting her abuse as soon as it happened. Not reporting abuse as soon as it takes place in a case like this is the cardinal sin that usually leads to a victory for the alleged abuser.

No trial dates have been set. Meanwhile, Depp continues to tour Europe with his band Hollywood Vampires and Heard continues to pursue her acting career.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]