Celebrity
Johnny Depp’s Lawyer Proves Amber Heard Lied Under Oath
It’s punishable by up to seven years in prison.
When Amber Heard and Johnny Depp divorced in 2016, the actress had pledged she would split 7 million settlements with the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union. However, Heard has testified she’s yet to donate the money because “Johnny sued me for $50miilion in March of 2019.”
Depp’s lawyer, Camille Vasquez, also pointed out Heard had the money for months before the lawsuit but failed to donate it as promised.
Depp's attorney Ben Chew's expression…
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) May 16, 2022
He hands a sticky note to Vasquez and then she questions #AmberHeard about having the full $7M settlement for 13 months prior to being sued by #JohnnyDepp and she didn't donate it in that amount of time. pic.twitter.com/UhpWudBryc
This act of Heard has since resulted in allegations that the Aquaman star lied under oath and misled the public when discussing the donations on talks show. She had even spoken of the donation under oath in a libel case in the United Kingdom High Court.
Legal experts have reacted, saying she could face police investigation over perjury allegations after admitting to not donating $3.5M from her divorce settlement.
While perjury is reportedly not a central issue in the case, it’s described as the single greatest threat to the justice system; therefore, the police might be called in to investigate to show that anyone who lies to the court can be prosecuted for perjury. Notably, deceiving a court is a serious offense.
In December 2018, Heard contributed just $350K and had not paid anything else. Depp equally donated $100K, with another $350K coming from a Fidelity Investments Fund.
Amid the pair [now-ex] battle in the UK in 2021, Depp’s lawyers had accused Heard of giving away a fraction of the vast sum as part of a deliberate and manipulative lie to make herself look better. But she hit back, stating she fully intends to honor the pledges and that she would love for Johnny Depp to stop suing her so she could.
Nonetheless, a perjury case is difficult to bring and prosecute. It must be demonstrated that someone knowingly told a lie, somewhat confused or forgetful.
Police could look into it, but they are unlikely to prosecute, mainly as the libel trial is hinged on what happened during their marriage and not what she spent her money on. If one of the witnesses had been found to have lied amid the English libel case, they possibly could face charges of perverting the course of justice, perjury, and a possible seven-year prison sentence.