Amber Heard was assessed and diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder by a forensic psychologist, who met with the actress and reviewed case files from the Johnny Depp defamation trial.
Dr. Shannon Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist, testified about her evaluations Tuesday after being asked by Depp’s lawyers to review the case materials and provide her opinion on whether there was intimate partner violence in the relationship between Heard and Depp, defined as physical or psychological abuse from one partner to another.
Curry was also asked to provide a psychological evaluation of Heard, whom the doctor met with and talked to on two separate occasions. She told the Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom that she assessed Heard to have a borderline personality disorder, defined by the Mayo Clinic as a mental disorder impacting the way a person thinks or feels about themselves and others causing self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions, behavior and relationships.
Heard was also assessed by Curry to have histrionic personality disorder, which is characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking behaviors, usually beginning in early childhood, including inappropriate seduction and excessive desire for approval, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Day 9 of the trial began with testimony by Tara Roberts, the estate manager on Depp’s private island in the Bahamas, who described the contentious relationship between Depp and Heard.
Roberts, who worked on the island for 15 years, told the court she witnessed the aftermath of a fight between the couple while they were there for Christmas in 2015. Roberts said Depp came to her office one evening agitated and pacing the floor. Roberts recalled Heard coming in and apologizing to Depp, begging him to come back to their house. Depp tried to drive away but Heard blocked the car and after arguing with Heard hopped in the car and the couple drove off.
Roberts drove with another staff member to the couple’s house and said Heard was yelling at Depp, calling him “a washed-up actor” and saying he “was going to die a fat lonely old man.” Roberts overheard Depp tell Heard, “You hit me with a can.” Roberts said she got in between the couple but Heard was “viciously trying to pull him back in the house and yelling at him.”
Roberts said she was concerned so she removed Depp from the situation to a nearby café where she noticed he had a mark across the bridge of his nose. Roberts put ice on Depp’s face and ordered a staff member to stay with him that night. Roberts said she didn’t notice any marks or bruises on Heard the next day.
Depp is suing Heard for $50 million claiming she libeled him in the 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post. Heard filed a $100 million counterclaim for defamation for Depp’s attorney calling her a “liar.”
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor spent four days on the witness stand. Heard is also expected to testify.