Amber Heard's team bring expert to deny Depp's claims on how he lost his finger
Dr. Richard Moore, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hand surgery, was called as Amber Heard's first witness on Monday.
He claims to have performed thousands of hand surgeries, including hundreds similar to the one Johnny Depp required following a brawl with Heard in Australia in 2015.
Depp claims Heard threw a vodka bottle at him, severing the tip of his finger. According to Heard, Depp injured his finger by bashing his hand against a wall-mounted phone.
Dr. Richard Moore told jurors that Johnny Depp suffered a "crush injury", something that could not happen as a result of Amber Heard hurling a vodka bottle at him.
"Based on your analysis, did Mr. Depp's injury happen as result of a vodka bottle being thrown at him?" Heard's lawyer asked.
"No," Moore said. Depp's own testimony, he claimed, contradicted the cause of the injury. Depp claimed his hand was palm down over a bar when Heard threw the bottle, slicing off the tip of his right middle finger.
However, gory photos shown to jurors show that Depp's middle finger nail was completely intact, with no blood under the nail bed.
Moore stated that if a bottle struck Depp's hand on the outside, the nail should show signs of trauma.
According to Moore, X-rays of Depp's finger show that the bone had splintered, which is inconsistent with a bottle smashing Depp's hand.
If, as Depp testified, the bottle shattered on his hand, there should be "other lacerations," he said.
Dr. Richard Moore, Amber Heard's medical expert, admitted on cross examination that he "can't rule out that a vodka bottle caused the injury" to Johnny Depp's fingertip.
He went on to say that he can rule out the possibility that the injury was caused by "the mechanism described by Mr. Depp in his deposition," as Depp rolled his eyes and smirked.
Moore did not examine Depp personally, instead relying on medical records and the actor's testimony.
The doctor has testified as an expert witness in two other cases for Heard's legal team, earning $5,000 per day.
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