Another last-minute witness was summoned to the Johnny Depp defamation trial on Wednesday, to testify she had witnessed Amber Heard in a fight with another woman.
Airport worker Beverly R. Leonard told the court, via video link from her home in Arizona, that she had witnessed an altercation at Sea-Tac International Airport in 2009.
“I was in baggage claim area, and observed her with a traveling companion, and they got into an altercation where Ms. Heard had grabbed her traveling companion and pulled something from her neck,” she told Depp’s attorney Camille Vasquez.
“At that point I got up and tried to break up what appeared to be a fight. And I summoned a colleague to help me. And I stepped in between them and separated them, stopping any further injuries or escalation.”
Asked to describe the interaction, Leonard said Heard was “aggressive towards her traveling companion.”
“She had reached up and grabbed her arm and pulled a necklace off of her, and I observed her having it in her hand,” she recalled. “She seemed to be not very steady on her feet, her eyes were blurry and watery, and I could smell alcohol.”
As for the female companion — who was not identified — Leonard said “she raised her hands in what appeared to be a defensive manner.”
“But other than that she was pretty stoic, and didn’t really respond much. He stature was two or three inches taller than Ms. Heard, so she didn’t really need to have to defend herself,” she added with a chuckle.
After she intervened, Leonard said Heard was “somewhat dismissive” to her.
“‘We’re just having an argument, we’re fine, we’re fine,'” she quoted Heard, then explained, “because I was asking if they were okay, is there anything wrong, what’s going on.”
Asked if she observed any injuries, Leonard said the other woman had an abrasion on the side of her neck where the necklace had been, “like a rope burn from the chain as it was removed.”
Finally Vasquez asked Leonard how she came to be involved in the trial — and she gave a very mysterious answer.
“I became aware of this situation, specifically this trial, because I was sent an email anonymously,” she said. “I don’t even know who it came from.”
During a brief cross-examination by Heard’s attorney Elaine Bredehoft, Leonard revealed she had contacted Depp’s legal team late the night before.
She confirmed that her recollection was from an incident that occurred 13 years ago — and insisted she was not doing it just to get on TV.
“I had no desire to be on television,” she responded to Bredehoft’s challenge.
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