“I try to find the words to describe how painful it is. It’s awful for me to sit here for weeks and make things easier, “Hurd said at the start of his testimony in Fairfax County Court in Virginia.
Depp is suing Hurd for $ 50 million over a 2018 publication she wrote for The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic violence.” Although Depp is not mentioned in the article, he claims that it costs him lucrative acting roles.
Hurd’s testimony comes 14 days after the trial, after weeks of jurors hearing testimony about the explosive relationship between the actors, including from Depp himself, who testified for several days that he never hit a woman and accused Hurd of abuse.
Hurd and Depp, who met in 2009 and were married from 2015-2016, accuse the other of acts of physical violence during their relationship. Both rejected the other’s allegations.
Depp’s lawyers closed their case on Tuesday.
Hurd’s testimony
When Hurd stood up to testify, she began talking about how she and Depp fell in love after filming The Rum Diary.
“When I was around Johnny, I felt like the most beautiful person in the world. He made me feel like a million dollars,” Hurd said. “I just felt very intense.”
The two began seeing each other romantically in 2011. Hurd testified that they spent days together in a “balloon”, reading books and listening to music together, after which he will disappear.
Hurd was asked by lawyer Elaine Bredehoft if she remembered the first time Depp hit her.
“I will never forget it. It changed my life, “said Hurd.
Hurd said she believed Depp was using cocaine, that there was a retro jar of cocaine nearby, and that they were sitting together on the couch when she asked him about a tattoo on his arm, and that he told her it said “Wino.”
“I just laughed because I thought he was joking. And he hit me in the face,” Hurd said. “I laughed too. I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. I thought it must be a joke. I didn’t know what was going on. I was just watching it.”
Hurd testified that Depp hit her twice more. She said she tried to leave.
“I knew it was wrong and I knew I had to leave him. And that broke my heart. Because I didn’t want to leave him, “Hurd said. “I wish I could sit here and say that I got up and left this house, drew a line and defended myself.”
Hurd said Depp fell to his knees, cried, and apologized, saying, “I thought I picked up the monster.”
It is not clear what year the alleged incident took place.
Hurd said she did leave shortly after the incident and that she received messages from Depp with plenty of apologies, saying, “I’d rather cut off my hand than ever put it on you” and that he understands that she can never forgive him.
Hurd said the two reconciled shortly after the incident and that he had promised her he would never hit her again.
“I believed there was a limit that would never be crossed again, and that was all,” Hurd said.
But she described the relationship, which continues with escalating violence, which she says corresponds to Depp’s drinking. Hurd testified that Depp would push, hit, push, and that the battles escalated quickly.
In Depp’s own testimony, he denied hitting a woman in his life.
Hurd also described in detail an incident in 2013 in which she said that Depp had done a “cavity search” against her will.
Hurd testified Wednesday that she and Depp were with friends who were using drugs at a party in a desert apartment made up of several eclectic trailers, and that when she and Depp returned to their room, Depp began smashing things in their trailer. He accused her of hiding his cocaine, Hurd testified, and began tearing her dress and underwear.
“He was telling me, ‘We’re going to do a cavity search, aren’t we?’ Like, he just put his fingers inside me,” Hurd testified.
A forensic psychologist hired by Hurd’s legal team has previously testified that she found Hurd sexually assaulted by Depp.
Depp had previously denied all charges against him.
Hurd described the ups and downs of his relationship with Depp, with periods of calm when the actor was sober.
“He was the love of my life,” Hurd said. “But he was that other thing. The other thing was awful.”
The psychologist testified
The first witness called by the defense was forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes, who testified that she believed Hurd had post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of Depp’s intimate partner violence.
“What these tests show is that there was a high level of serious violence committed by Mr Depp against Mrs Hurd. There was more mild-scale violence perpetrated by Mrs Hurd against Mr Depp with a severe indicator, which is the blow she pointed out to me, “Hughes testified on Tuesday.” She was sexually assaulted where Mr Depp, based on her report, was not subjected to anything.
Depp’s attorney, Wayne Dennison, released a recording of a conversation between Hurd and Depp on Wednesday.
“I hit you, I didn’t hit you,” Hurd’s voice was heard on the recording.
“Don’t tell me what it’s like to be hit,” Depp’s voice was heard in the recording.
Denison asked Hughes if he thought the situation in this video was Hurd fighting reactively.
“In this case, if it’s true, if she said she hit him first, then it wouldn’t be reactive violence,” Hughes said.
Denison pressed Hughes for her assessment that Hurd’s violence against Depp was “mild”, showing a graphic of Depp’s partially severed finger, an injury Depp said he received after Hurd claimed to have thrown a glass bottle on it.
“This picture doesn’t reflect a low level of violence, does it?” Denison asked.
“It reflects a serious injury,” Hughes said.
Hurd will return to the courtroom for testimony on Thursday.
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