Courtroom View · Preview
The room, one moment at a time
The same case as the Chronological View, drawn as the room it happened in. Move the line along the bar, or step with Previous and Next, and the room changes with the moment: who was in it, who was only on a screen, and which parts of it stood empty.
Still being built. A filled circle is someone a source places in the room that day: a minute entry, a transcript, a photograph or a report, linked from the card. A hollow one is someone who was part of the case at that point and is not recorded in the room, which on most dates is because nothing happened in court at all. A question mark explains a part of the room. The plan is a plain one and not a drawing of the real courtroom.
- In the room
- By video
- In the case, not recorded in the room
- ?About this part of the room
In the room
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The judge, before trial
Bruce D. White
Ruled on the pre-trial motions before the case passed to Azcarate. The sources used here do not date the handover, so he is seated up to the first ruling the chronology gives to her.
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The trial judge
Azcarate, C.J.
Penney Azcarate. Overruled the plea in bar on 17 August 2021, allowed the cameras, and presided over the six weeks of trial.
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The plaintiff
Depp
Sued on 1 March 2019 over three sentences in an op-ed that never named him, asking $50m. He attended jury selection, moved in and out by court staff through special entrances.
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On the stand
Depp
Called by his own lawyer Jessica Meyers on the afternoon of 19 April 2022. Direct that day, cross-examination from the 20th, finished on the 25th.
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The plaintiff
Depp
Not in the room. He was in the United Kingdom, where he had been playing concerts, and stayed there for the verdict because of commitments made before the trial.
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Counsel for Depp
Adam Waldman
Three statements this lawyer gave a newspaper are what Heard counterclaimed over. The admission to appear in Virginia was revoked in October 2020. The statements stayed in the case and the lawyer did not.
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Counsel for Depp
Camille Vasquez
Spoke for Depp in court on 19 April, cross-examined Heard in May, and gave his closing argument.
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Counsel for Depp
Benjamin Chew
Opened for Depp on 12 April 2022, telling the jury the op-ed was plainly about him. On 19 April called the witness who came before Depp.
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Counsel for Depp
Jessica Meyers
Called Depp to the stand and took him through his evidence.
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The defendant, and counterclaimant
Heard
Wrote the op-ed, and in August 2020 counterclaimed for $100m. She attended jury selection, and she was in the room for the verdict, described as stoic while it was read.
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On the stand
Heard
Called by Elaine Bredehoft on the afternoon of 4 May 2022. Four days: 4 and 5 May, then 16 and 17 May. Recalled on 26 May as the last witness either side called.
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Counsel for Heard
Ben Rottenborn
Opened for Heard, put some 760 questions to Depp in cross-examination on 21 April, and gave her closing argument.
Reuters, 12 Apr 2022; Pool TV feed, 19 Apr 2022; Wikipedia, “Depp v. Heard”
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Counsel for Heard
Elaine Bredehoft
Examined witnesses on 19 April and called Heard to the stand on 4 May 2022.
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On the stand
Christi Dembrowski
Depp’s sister, and the first witness called, on 12 April 2022.
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On the stand, earlier that day
Sean Bett
Depp’s head of security. He was already under cross-examination when court opened on 19 April. The judge had to ask whether he was in the room or waiting outside.
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On the stand, earlier that day
Keenan Wyatt
Called for Depp by Benjamin Chew on 19 April, the last witness before Depp himself.
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On the stand, earlier that day
Dr. Dawn Hughes
Heard’s expert witness. The cross-examination finished on 4 May 2022, and Heard was called straight after.
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The jury
Seven jurors
Chosen in a day, on 11 April 2022. Seven is the usual size for a civil jury in Virginia. Five men and two women returned the verdict on 1 June: for Depp on all three of his statements, for Heard on one of her three. No split among them is on record.
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The jury
Four alternates
Chosen with the seven. An alternate hears the whole trial and takes a juror’s place if one cannot go on.
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The public gallery
Closed for the day
The courtroom was closed to the public while the jury was chosen. People had queued for wristbands from before seven in the morning, and those who got one watched by closed circuit from an overflow courtroom.
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The public gallery
The public and the press
Seats in the room went to those who had queued for a wristband. Later that week a friend of Heard’s, a journalist who had been sitting at the front, was reported to have been removed for texting and posting from the room, and barred for the rest of the trial.
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The public gallery
The public and the press
Seats in the room went to those who had queued for a wristband, and some fans camped outside to get one. On the day of the verdict a crowd gathered outside the courthouse as well.
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The public gallery
Not in use
Nothing was heard in this courtroom on this date. During the trial people queued from early morning for a place on these benches.
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The public gallery
Not recorded
The sources used here do not say who watched.
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The witness stand
Empty: no witnesses yet
This day was jury selection. The first witness was called the next day.
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The witness stand
Empty: the evidence is closed
The last witness had been heard on 26 May. This day was the judge’s instructions and the lawyers’ closing arguments.
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The witness stand
Empty
Nobody gives evidence on the day of a verdict. The room is there to hear the jury.
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The witness stand
Not in use
Where a witness sits to give evidence under oath. Witnesses wait outside the room until they are called, so that none of them hears another’s evidence first.
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The jury box
Empty: no jury yet
A jury is chosen at the start of a trial and this case took three years to reach one. The seven jurors and four alternates were picked on 11 April 2022.
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The jury box
Empty: the jury has gone
The jurors were discharged after the verdict on 1 June 2022. A month later Heard questioned the identity of one of them, and the court rejected that objection on 13 July.
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The bench
Empty: no case yet
Where the judge sits, raised above the rest of the room. On this date the case had not reached a court.
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The witness stand
Empty: no case yet
Where a witness sits to give evidence under oath, beside the judge and facing the lawyers. On this date the case had not reached a court.
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The jury box
Empty: no case yet
Where the jurors sit, along the wall nearest the side that has to prove its case. On this date the case had not reached a court.
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The plaintiff’s table
Empty: no case yet
Where the side that brings the case sits with its lawyers. It is always drawn on the left here. On this date the case had not reached a court.
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The defendant’s table
Empty: no case yet
Where the side that answers the case sits with its lawyers. On this date the case had not reached a court.
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The public gallery
Empty: no case yet
Benches behind the bar for the public and the press. Courts sit in the open, so anyone may take a seat. On this date the case had not reached a court.
Days in court
- 11 Apr 2022 Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Azcarate. Jury selection. The courtroom was closed to the public for the day. AP, 11 Apr 2022
- 12 Apr 2022 Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Azcarate. Opening statements, then the first witness. The trial was broadcast from a pool camera in the room. Reuters, 12 Apr 2022
- 19–25 Apr 2022 Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Azcarate. His evidence, over four days. Pool TV feed, 19 Apr 2022
- 4–17 May 2022 Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Azcarate. Her evidence, over four days. Pool TV feed, 4 May 2022
- 27 May 2022 Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Azcarate. The judge’s instructions and the closing arguments. Wikipedia, “Depp v. Heard”
- 1 Jun 2022 Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Azcarate. The verdict is read. Fox 5 New York, 1 Jun 2022
- London This happened in the High Court in London, in a different case: his libel claim against a newspaper. Heard gave evidence there as the newspaper’s witness. She was not a party.
- London This happened in the Court of Appeal in London, in his libel claim against a newspaper.
- 10 Nov 2020 A deposition, taken in Reston, Virginia, and not in court. Lawyers for both sides attend, and there is no judge and no public.
- 12 Jan 2022 A deposition, taken in Irvine, California, and not in court. Lawyers for both sides attend, and there is no judge and no public.
Terms
Plain English
Words this page uses because the court uses them. Nothing here is special to this case.
The paperwork
- Docket
- The court’s numbered list of everything filed in a case. Entry 42 is the forty-second thing filed.
- ECF No.
- How a filing is cited: its docket number. A number after a dash, like 42-4, is an attachment to it — usually an exhibit.
- Complaint
- The document that starts a lawsuit and sets out what the plaintiff says happened. An amended complaint replaces it.
- Answer
- The defendant’s formal response to the complaint, admitting or denying each allegation.
- Declaration
- A written statement signed under penalty of perjury. It counts as evidence without the witness appearing in person.
- Exhibit
- A document, screenshot or record attached to a filing as proof of something asserted in it.
- Transcript
- The word-for-word record of a hearing or a deposition. Cited by page and line, so 55:7 means page 55, line 7.
- Errata
- A formal correction a witness files to their own sworn testimony after reading it back.
- Under seal
- Filed with the court but kept off the public record. Both sides and the judge can read it; nobody else can.
How a case moves
- Motion
- A formal request that the court do something. The other side files an opposition; the moving side may then file a reply.
- Discovery
- The stage where each side must hand over relevant evidence to the other. It has a deadline, and missing it matters.
- Deposition
- Sworn question-and-answer, out of court, recorded by a court reporter. Lawyers for both sides attend; there is no judge.
- Subpoena
- A court order compelling someone who is not a party to hand over documents or give testimony.
- Evidentiary hearing
- A hearing where witnesses actually testify and are cross-examined, rather than lawyers simply arguing.
- Protective order
- An order limiting what either side may do with the material it receives in discovery.
- Magistrate judge
- A judge who handles pre-trial matters. On some questions they recommend, and the district judge decides.
- Paperless order
- A short ruling typed straight onto the docket. It has no document behind it, which is why some entries here do not link.
The motions that can end things
- Motion to dismiss
- Argues the case cannot proceed even if everything alleged is true — usually because the court lacks power to hear it.
- Summary judgment
- Argues the facts are not genuinely in dispute, so the judge can decide without a trial. If facts are disputed, it fails.
- Motion in limine
- Filed before trial to decide what a jury will and will not be allowed to hear.
- Spoliation
- Destroying or losing evidence you were obliged to keep. The duty starts once you know a lawsuit is coming.
- Sanctions
- A penalty for misconduct in the litigation itself. They can run from a fine to losing the case outright.
- Adverse inference
- A sanction where the jury is told it may assume the destroyed evidence would have hurt the side that destroyed it.
- Rule 11
- The rule requiring that filings have a factual basis. A Rule 11 motion says the other side asserted something it could not support.
Tests the court applies
- Jurisdiction
- Whether this court has the power to hear this case at all. A federal court needs a federal claim, which is why one date decides so much here.
- Burden
- Which side has to prove a thing. If they do not, they lose that point, even if the other side proves nothing either.
- Retroactive
- Whether a law reaches conduct from before it existed. Usually it does not, unless Congress clearly said so.
- Hearsay
- Repeating what someone said outside court to prove it was true. Generally not allowed, with many exceptions.
- Authentication
- Showing a document or screenshot is genuinely what its proponent says it is. The bar is low, but it is not nothing.
- Probative
- Actually tending to prove something. Evidence can be admissible and still carry very little weight.