Who Camille Vasquez is and what you need to know about Johnny Depp's legal team

The defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is into its final week, and Heard has returned to the stand to give evidence.

On Monday she was cross-examined by one of Depp’s lawyers, Camille Vasquez, who attempted to poke holes in her credibility.

Ms Vasquez asked Heard about various times she claims Depp hit her, including the occasions on which he allegedly broke her nose, split her lip and punched her repeatedly in the head.

She then presented multiple photos of Heard, taken days after the alleged incidents, with no visible signs of injury. Heard said she used make-up to cover the injuries.

Heard also said under cross-examination that she had no medical records of any of her injuries, as she did not seek medical attention for them.

Depp is being represented by a team from a major international law firm, Brown Rudnick, of which Ms Vasquez is a member.

She has garnered significant social media interest for the tough nature of her questioning, with every detail of the trial, which is being live streamed on YouTube, being broken down and pored over by those following the trial on Twitter and TikTok.

Ms Vasquez’s work mainly focuses on plaintiff-side defamation suits, with additional experience litigating contract disputes, business-related torts, and employment-related claims.

Her bio on the Brown Rudnick website reads: “Camille is adept at formulating offensive and defensive litigation strategies for private clients. She also has extensive experience handling parallel reputation management and crisis communications issues arising from these engagements.”

Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Ms Vasquez was an attorney at a national firm in Los Angeles.

Who are Johnny Depp’s other lawyers?

The rest of Depp’s team is made up of Ben Chew, Stephanie Calnan, Andrew Crawford, Rebecca MacDowell Lecaroz, Yarelyn Mena, Jessica Meyers and Samuel Moniz.

Mr Chew has played a prominent role in proceedings so far. His bio on the Brown Rudnick website describes him as a “multifaceted litigator, representing clients in complex commercial litigations and arbitrations” in Virginia, where the trial is taking place.

He has previously represented Depp, successfully prosecuting two breaches of fiduciary duty cases on his behalf in Los Angeles.

He has also represented Cher in several cases, including two relating to the Academy Award nominated Edith & Eddie.

Depp is suing Heard, his ex-wife, for $50m (£40m) over an article she wrote in The Washington Post in 2018, in which she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.

Heard did not name Depp in the article, but he claims it has cost him acting roles.

She has counter-sued him for $100m, claiming Depp defamed her when his legal team referred to her claims as “fake” and a “sexual violence hoax”.

The former couple, who were married from 2015 to 2017, both accuse the other of being physically violent during the relationship. They each deny the other’s claims.

Depp and Heard met in 2009, on the set of The Rum Diary, in which they played lovers.

The couple released a joint statement when their divorce was finalised saying: “Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love.”

What is the latest from the trial?

On Monday jurors saw photos of Heard with red marks and swelling on her face after the couple’s alleged final fight before their divorce, and heard testimony about her expertise in covering up bruises with make-up.

Several of the photos shown had not previously been seen by the jury and showed redness and swelling much more clearly than earlier photos.

Heard said the marks came when Depp threw a phone at her face.

The confrontation in May 2016 prompted Heard to file for divorce two days later. A few days after that, she obtained a temporary restraining order after a courthouse hearing, and was widely photographed leaving the courthouse with a clear red mark on her right cheek.

The final fight has been a key point in the couple’s ongoing dispute. Depp says he never struck Heard and that she’s concocting claims she was abused. Earlier in the trial, jurors heard from police officers who responded to emergency calls during that final fight who said Heard’s face looked red from crying but that they saw no visible bruises. Witnesses also testified that they didn’t see bruises on Heard’s face in the immediate days after the fight.

Heard, in her testimony on Monday, said she didn’t cooperate with officers who responded to the couple’s penthouse, and said her face-to-face interactions with officers were very limited.

She also discussed her make-up routine, using a colour correction wheel that she called her “bruise kit” to cover up marks on her face. She said she learned over the years to use green shades in the first day of a bruise to cover up redness, and switch more to orange shades as the bruise turned blue and purple.

“I’m not going to walk around LA with bruises on my face,” she said.

On cross-examination, Ms Vasquez questioned Heard about multiple photos of her that appeared not to show bruises even they were taken within days of alleged abuse incidents. Heard said she used make-up to cover bruises and ice to reduce swelling.

“You should see what it looked like under the make-up,” she said.

Vasquez also questioned Heard about her $7m divorce settlement from Depp. Heard pledged to donate the full amount to charity but has so far only donated a portion of it. She testified she’s been unable to fulfil her pledge yet because Depp sued her for $50m. But on cross-examination she acknowledged that she had received the full $7m from Depp months before he filed the lawsuit.

In her direct testimony, Heard testified she did not want to publicly expose Depp as an abuser in her court proceedings, but had to go to the courthouse to provide testimony to obtain the restraining order, and she was taken aback when she left the courthouse surrounded by paparazzi.

“I just wanted to change my locks,” she said. “I just wanted to get a good night’s sleep.”

During Monday’s testimony, Heard also strongly denied an accusation from Depp that she left human fecal matter in the couple’s bed after a fight. Heard said it was the couple’s teacup Yorkshire terrier that was responsible, and that it had a history of bowel problems ever since it had accidentally ingested Depp’s marijuana.

“Absolutely not,” she said of the alleged prank. “I don’t think that’s funny. I don’t know what grown woman does. I was not in a pranking mood.”

Heard also talked about the op-ed piece itself, saying staffers with the American Civil Liberties Union — for whom she had started work as an ambassador — wrote the first draft. She said she was happy to lend her voice to the debate over domestic violence, and wasn’t intending to reference Depp.

“It’s not about Johnny,” she said. “The only one who thought it was about Johnny was Johnny. It was about me, and my life after Johnny.”

Heard concluded her testimony by saying that accusations she receives on a daily basis from Depp supporters that she’s lying about the abuse are “torture.”

“I want to move on with my life,” she said. “I want Johnny to move on. I want him to leave me alone.”