MONDAY, APRIL 25 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE C3port her, or anything, because it’s
very targeted, and most people
can’t catch that.”
By the second week, the county
court put tighter security mea-
sures in place; deputies started
requiring photo IDs and record-
ing the names of everyone who
gets a wristband. This may be a
result of multiple people being
removed from court, including
journalist Eve Barlow, a friend of
Heard’s; Depp’s attorneys
claimed Barlow was live-tweeting
from the courtroom — where no
phones are allowed — and
showed Heard’s lawyer mislead-
ing evidence that led to the strick-
en testimony of one of Depp’s
witnesses. (A person familiar
with the situation who spoke on
the condition of anonymity to
discuss internal deliberations
disputes that Barlow did either of
those things.) The New York Post
reported that two spectators were
kicked out after allegedly making
threats against Heard on social
media.
As the spectacle plays out, oth-
er Virginia residents are just try-
ing to go about their business. On
a recent afternoon, newlyweds
Corey and Kala Bell of Alexandria
arrive to pick up their marriage
certificate and documents, so
Kala can officially change her last
name. They ask a video camera
operator the reason for all the
commotion. He tells them it’s for
the Johnny Depp trial, and they
think he’s kidding. Assured it’s
really happening, they laugh in
disbelief.
“We saw the Court TV van and
were like, ‘What’s going on?’ Then
I noticed there was a lot of cops,”
Kala says. She assumed it was
about another headline-making
case.
“I thought maybe it was related
to the ‘shopping cart killer,’ ” Kala
says, referring to the man
charged with allegedly killing two
women in Virginia and transport-
ing their bodies in shopping
carts. “I thought it had to be
something about him, honestly.”a woman excitedly reports to
someone over FaceTime.
Two fans who identify them-
selves as Arya and Isabelle make
it just in time to see Depp’s car.
“I’ve been showing my support
online for years, and I had an
opportunity to show support in
person, and I think that makes a
profoundly huge difference,” Arya
says, adding that he started a
GoFundMe to raise money to
travel to Virginia from Michigan.
Isabelle says she arrived from
New York and got a job at Pet -
Smart to afford the trip. She
earned enough to stay until about
May 7, she says, and hopes to
return for the last week of the
trial, expected to wrap up right
before Memorial Day. “I know a
lot of people, especially the main-
stream media and movie critics,
think what he’s doing is so ridicu-
lous and that he needs to move
on,” she says. “But from my point
of view,... he shouldn’t just move
on, because it’s important to get
the truth out there.”Heard is also expected to
take the stand in her de-
fense. The actress, who has
starred in films such as “Aqua-
man” and “Justice League,” isn’t
as well-known as her ex-husband.
“I’ve already forgot the name of
the other party,” one prospective
juror admitted during jury selec-
tion.
Heard has a staunch defender
in Christina Taft of Los Angeles,
the founder of Worldie, an initia-
tive to use social media for good.
Taft has rallied others to show up
in defense of the actress, whom
she believes is being targeted by
nefarious forces online that are
amplifying Depp’s aggressively
vocal fans. She points to a flood of
brutal comments directed at the
actress on social media, and notes
that other people have been driv-
en to drastic measures when they
face the same kind of vitriol.
“She’s a huge victim of these
operations online,” Taft said. “And
because of them, you can’t sup-run up the hill toward Chain
Bridge Road to no avail, then
strategize about leaving the
courtroom earlier the next day.
Others revel in their brief for-
tune: “I saw him! I saw him! He
waved and I screamed, ‘Johnny!’ ”to his hotel. He will usually wave
to them out his window; some
days, you can hear screams as the
ride passes by, and see the disap-
pointment on the faces of those
who didn’t make it.
A pair of women break into aNew York Post, the Independent
and more. Nick Wallis, a British
journalist, crowdfunded his trip
here and is repaying his audience
with live-tweeting of the trial as
well as a newsletter and YouTube
updates.
Observers line up well before
sunrise to procure one of the 100
brightly colored spectator wrist-
bands that are available starting
at 7 a.m. If the wristband looks
remotely tampered with, you will
not be allowed in. Some specta-
tors are intrigued local residents
(“I’m a true-crime nut,” says one
Arlington woman who took the
day off work) or college students
from the nearby George Mason
University. In the trial’s first
week, one reporter arrived too
late to get in the courtroom and
offered $50 to one spectator for
his wristband. (The offer was
scornfully declined.)
Although there are some
Heard supporters, the loudest
presence are Depp loyalists, who
have traveled from all over. Jacin-
ta Gillespie of Brisbane, Australia
— who was “very disappointed”
when Depp lost a 2020 libel suit
against the U.K.-based Sun after a
headline called him a “wife beat-
er” — says she took four weeks of
vacation to attend. Several carry
“Justice for Johnny” signs, echo-
ing the social media hashtag.
Tiffany Lunn of St. Mary’s County,
Md., holds a poster that reads
“Wish He Never Heard!!” with a
picture of the actress. Others
bring flowers. Some have pirate
flags as a nod to Depp’s most
successful character, Captain
Jack Sparrow. They get there ear-
ly for the good seats. They don’t
leave the building for lunch, so
they can get the same seats after
the break.
Around 5 p.m., when court
adjourns, some fans try to proper-
ly time their exits, so they can
hustle to the back of the building,
where Depp leaves in a black
Cadillac Escalade, zooming past
the nearby Red Hot & Blue barbe-
cue restaurant as he heads backmaking eye contact and occasion-
ally leaning over to speak to
their attorneys. Depp’s testimony
lasted for more than seven
hours over Tuesday and Wednes-
day before Heard’s defense law-
yer, Ben Rottenborn, began cross-
examination in earnest, taking up
all of Thursday. He is scheduled to
continue Monday. Depp’s appear-
ance on the stand injects an extra
flurry of activity into the proceed-
ings. The courtroom fills to near-
capacity most days, and Depp’s
fans tend to murmur and even
snicker quietly to themselves
when the actor talks back to
Rottenborn. (“He’s getting sassy,”
one whispers.)T
he actual legal arguments
in Courtroom 5J are as seri-
ous and solemn as you
would expect from a case that
involves allegations of physical
abuse from each party — denied
by both sides — and an accusation
of sexual assault from Heard,
which Depp’s representative
called “fictitious.” The judge, Pen-
ney Azcarate, signed an order
banning selfies or autographs. A
deputy warns courtroom specta-
tors against laughing loudly,
cheering or rolling their eyes.
But in a case involving celebri-
ties, the scene is bound to turn
intense. And strange. (A Fairfax
County public information officer
declined a request to make any
officials available to discuss how
different this is compared with
other trials.) Outlets including
Court TV and Law & Crime are
live-streaming from inside the
courtroom, which brought even
more curious bystanders out dur-
ing the second week. News cam-
eras line up outside the front of
the courthouse, while photogra-
phers stand on ladders near the
rear exit to capture Depp or
Heard coming and going.
The British media has shown
up — the Daily Mail, the BBC — in
addition to the Associated Press,TRIAL FROM C1Depp fans clamor for seats. Alpacas must wait outside.SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCKEMILY YAHR/THE WASHINGTON POSTFROM TOP: Spectators have been spotted carrying “Justice for
Johnny” signs, echoing a hashtag; Amber Heard meets with her
legal team last week; Andrea Diaz brought her emotional support
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