'There Appears to Be an Amber Alert'

Judge explains oddly coincidental interruption during Heard-Depp closing arguments
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2022 2:17 PM CDT
Amber Heard's Arguments Interrupted by 'Amber Alert'
Amber Heard speaks to her legal team in the courtroom at the Fairfax County Circuit Courthouse in Fairfax, Va., Friday.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber, Pool)

It has been a particularly nasty public trial. But during closing arguments Friday in the Amber Heard/Johnny Depp defamation case, something that bordered on comic relief occurred. As Heard attorney Ben Rottenborn was making his case, alarms started going off on phones in the courtroom, reports Deadline. Amid the confusion, Judge Penney Azcarate offered the explanation, one with an obvious ring of coincidence: “There appears to be an Amber Alert,” she told the court. “People are getting it on their phones that haven’t silenced them.”

Even the main Amber in question—Heard—was seen turning her head toward the gallery with a look of confusion, notes the New York Post. As it turns out, it was not technically an Amber Alert (which would be for a missing child) but a storm warning. In terms of the celebrities' closing arguments:

  • Depp: Attorney Camille Vasquez asked the jury “to give Mr. Depp his life back” by finding that Heard libeled him, per the AP. Heard “ruined his life by falsely telling the world she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp,” she said.
  • Heard: “In Mr. Depp’s world, you don't leave Mr. Depp,” said Rotternborn. “If you do, he will start a campaign of global humiliation against you.”
(The online vitriol against Heard worries this observer.)

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