“I assumed the alpacas may brighten his day,” Diaz says final Monday, not lengthy earlier than Depp first takes the stand. She acknowledges the Pirates of the Caribbean star — who enters and exits the courthouse every day by means of a gated again entrance — might not really see Dolce and Inti, the emotional assist alpacas who’re gamely posing for pictures with passersby. “However I figured I’d simply give it a shot.”

The scene outdoors the Depp-Heard trial, coming into its third week on Monday, has reworked the Fairfax County courtroom advanced from a spot the place Northern Virginia residents contest parking tickets to the stage for one of many largest celeb courtroom circumstances in latest reminiscence. The realm has seen its share of high-profile circumstances, however a trial involving one of many world’s most well-known film stars has introduced with it a slight whiff of the surreal.

“Learn the information,” one sheriff’s deputy mumbles because the umpteenth observer walks by the “John C. Depp, II v. Amber Laura Heard” signal outdoors the courtroom and wonders out loud why on the earth Johnny Depp is in Fairfax.

FAQ: What to find out about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial

Depp, 58, is suing Heard, 36, for $50 million for defamation over an opinion piece she wrote in The Washington Publish in 2018 saying she had grow to be a public determine representing home abuse. Although she didn’t title Depp, she had filed for divorce and a restraining order in opposition to him two years prior, alleging he bodily assaulted her. Depp has denied all claims of abuse and mentioned the op-ed triggered irreparable injury to his profession. After his lawyer mentioned Heard’s allegations had been a hoax, Heard countersued him for $100 million for defamation.

The actor’s legal professionals filed the swimsuit in Virginia as a result of The Publish, which isn’t a defendant on this case, homes its printing press and on-line server in Fairfax County.

Depp and Heard seem within the courtroom every single day, not making eye contact and infrequently leaning over to talk to their attorneys. Depp’s testimony lasted for greater than seven hours over Tuesday and Wednesday earlier than Heard’s protection lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, started cross-examination in earnest, taking on all of Thursday. He’s scheduled to proceed Monday. Depp’s look on the stand injects an additional flurry of exercise into the proceedings. The courtroom fills to near-capacity most days, and Depp’s followers are likely to murmur and even snicker quietly to themselves when the actor talks again to Rottenborn. (“He’s getting sassy,” one whispers.)

The precise authorized arguments in Courtroom 5J are as critical and solemn as you’ll anticipate from a case that entails allegations of bodily abuse from every social gathering — denied by each side — and an accusation of sexual assault from Heard, which Depp’s consultant known as “fictitious.” The choose, Penney Azcarate, signed an order banning selfies or autographs. A deputy warns courtroom spectators in opposition to laughing loudly, cheering or rolling their eyes.

However in a case involving celebrities, the scene is certain to show intense. And unusual. (A Fairfax County public data officer declined a request to make any officers obtainable to debate how totally different that is in contrast with different trials.) Retailers together with Courtroom TV and Regulation & Crime are live-streaming from contained in the courtroom, which introduced much more curious bystanders out in the course of the second week. Information cameras line up outdoors the entrance of the courthouse, whereas photographers stand on ladders close to the rear exit to seize Depp or Heard coming and going.

The British media has proven up — the Every day Mail, the BBC — along with the Related Press, New York Publish, the Unbiased and extra. Nick Wallis, a British journalist, crowdfunded his journey right here and is repaying his viewers with live-tweeting of the trial in addition to a publication and YouTube updates.

Observers line up nicely earlier than dawn to obtain one of many 100 brightly coloured spectator wristbands which might be obtainable beginning at 7 a.m. If the wristband appears to be like remotely tampered with, you’ll not be allowed in. Some spectators are intrigued native residents (“I’m a true-crime nut,” says one Arlington girl who took the time off work) or school college students from the close by George Mason College. Within the trial’s first week, one reporter arrived too late to get within the courtroom and supplied $50 to at least one spectator for his wristband. (The provide was scornfully declined.)

Though there are some Heard supporters, the loudest presence are Depp loyalists, who’ve traveled from throughout. Jacinta Gillespie of Brisbane, Australia — who was “very disenchanted” when Depp misplaced a 2020 libel swimsuit in opposition to the U.Okay.-based Solar after a headline known as him a “spouse beater” — says she took 4 weeks of trip to attend. A number of carry “Justice for Johnny” indicators, echoing the social media hashtag. Tiffany Lunn of St. Mary’s County, Md., holds a poster that reads “Want He By no means Heard!!” with an image of the actress. Others carry flowers. Some have pirate flags as a nod to Depp’s most profitable character, Captain Jack Sparrow. They get there early for the nice seats. They don’t go away the constructing for lunch, to allow them to get the identical seats after the break.

Round 5 p.m., when courtroom adjourns, some followers attempt to correctly time their exits, to allow them to hustle to the again of the constructing, the place Depp leaves in a black Cadillac Escalade, zooming previous the close by Crimson Scorching & Blue barbecue restaurant as he heads again to his lodge. He’ll often wave to them out his window; some days, you’ll be able to hear screams because the trip passes by, and see the frustration on the faces of those that didn’t make it.

A pair of ladies break right into a run up the hill towards Chain Bridge Highway to no avail, then strategize about leaving the courtroom earlier the subsequent day. Others revel of their transient fortune: “I noticed him! I noticed him! He waved and I screamed, ‘Johnny!’ ” a girl excitedly experiences to somebody over FaceTime.

Two followers who determine themselves as Arya and Isabelle make it simply in time to see Depp’s automotive. “I’ve been displaying my assist on-line for years, and I had a chance to indicate assist in particular person, and I feel that makes a profoundly large distinction,” Arya says, including that he began a GoFundMe to lift cash to journey to Virginia from Michigan.

Isabelle says she arrived from New York and bought a job at PetSmart to afford the journey. She earned sufficient to remain till about Could 7, she says, and hopes to return for the final week of the trial, anticipated to wrap up proper earlier than Memorial Day. “I do know lots of people, particularly the mainstream media and film critics, suppose what he’s doing is so ridiculous and that he wants to maneuver on,” she says. “However from my viewpoint, … he shouldn’t simply transfer on, as a result of it’s necessary to get the reality on the market.”

Heard can also be anticipated to take the stand in her protection. The actress, who has starred in movies comparable to “Aquaman” and “Justice League,” isn’t as well-known as her ex-husband. “I’ve already forgot the title of the opposite social gathering,” one potential juror admitted throughout jury choice.

Heard has a staunch defender in Christina Taft of Los Angeles, the founding father of Worldie, an initiative to make use of social media for good. Taft has rallied others to indicate up in protection of the actress, whom she believes is being focused by nefarious forces on-line which might be amplifying Depp’s aggressively vocal followers. She factors to a flood of brutal feedback directed on the actress on social media, and notes that different folks have been pushed to drastic measures once they face the identical sort of vitriol.

“She’s an enormous sufferer of those operations on-line,” Taft mentioned. “And due to them, you’ll be able to’t assist her, or something, as a result of it’s very focused, and most of the people can’t catch that.”

Cross-examination spotlights Depp’s profane texts, drug use

By the second week, the county courtroom put tighter safety measures in place; deputies began requiring photograph IDs and recording the names of everybody who will get a wristband. This can be a results of a number of folks being faraway from courtroom, together with journalist Eve Barlow, a good friend of Heard’s; Depp’s attorneys claimed Barlow was live-tweeting from the courtroom — the place no telephones are allowed — and confirmed Heard’s lawyer deceptive proof that led to the stricken testimony of one in every of Depp’s witnesses. (An individual conversant in the scenario who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate inside deliberations disputes that Barlow did both of these issues.) The New York Publish reported that two spectators had been kicked out after allegedly making threats in opposition to Heard on social media.

Because the spectacle performs out, different Virginia residents are simply making an attempt to go about their enterprise. On a latest afternoon, newlyweds Corey and Kala Bell of Alexandria arrive to select up their marriage certificates and paperwork, so Kala can formally change her final title. They ask a video digicam operator the explanation for all of the commotion. He tells them it’s for the Johnny Depp trial, and so they suppose he’s kidding. Assured it’s actually taking place, they snort in disbelief.

“We noticed the Courtroom TV van, and had been like, ‘What’s occurring?’ Then I seen there was a whole lot of cops,” Kala says. She assumed it was about one other headline-making case.

“I assumed perhaps it was associated to the ‘purchasing cart killer,’ ” Kala says, referring to the person charged with allegedly killing two ladies in Virginia and transporting their our bodies in purchasing carts. “I assumed it needed to be one thing about him, truthfully.”