Psychologist Dr. Dawn Hughes was the first witness called to the stand by Amber Heard‘s lawyers during the defense portion of her trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp.
The clinical and forensic psychologist said that Amber suffers from PTSD because of the repeated sexual violence that she was allegedly subjected to during her relationship with Johnny.
“There are a number of incidents of sexual violence reported in this relationship,” Hughes testified (via Deadline). “Those are documented early on … where when Mr. Depp was drunk or high. He threw her on the bed, ripped off her nightgown and tried to have sex with her.”
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Hughes claimed that Johnny would become “enraged” when he was “not able to perform.”
“There were times when he forced her to give him oral sex when he was angry — these weren’t loving moments, these were angry moments,” Hughes said. “Moments of dominance, moments of him trying to get control over her.”
Hughes detailed more of the violence that Johnny allegedly subjected Amber to while they were together. His lawyers denied any sexual violence by him.
The psychologist says that Johnny “pushed Heard, he shoved her, he slapped her with the front of his hand and the back of his hand, he choked her, he slammed her into the wall, he pushed her, and when she fell down he kicked her in the back.”
Hughes said that Amber was not her client, but she evaluated her for 21.5 hours during sessions in January 2021 and December 2021. She concluded that her “main opinion is that Ms. Heard’s report of intimate partner violence and the records I reviewed is consistent with what we know in the field about intimate partner violence, characterized by physical violence, psychological aggression, sexual violence, coercive control and surveillance behaviors.”
Hughes did acknowledge that Amber exhibited some “mild violence” to Johnny.
Amber made a change to her team in the days before hitting the stand.
Source: justjared.com