Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez has been a breakout star in the defamation trial that first started back in April.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor had sued his ex-wife, Amber Heard, for defamation after she declared herself a survivor of domestic violence in a 2018 op-ed. Although she did not mention Depp by name, he claims he lost movie roles due to the clear implication that he was the one who abused her.
A jury sided with Depp and awarded him $15 million dollars – $10 million compensatory and $5 million punitive. Those punitive damages were reduced to $350,000 dollars – the maximum allowed under Virginia state law.
The “Aquaman” actress also obtained $2 million dollars from her countersuit after Depp’s attorney labeled her abuse claims a “hoax.” However, the trial was widely regarded as a success for Depp.
Camille Vasquez Admits That Depp’s Attorneys Were ‘Running On Fumes’ By The End Of The Trial
The trial first started out Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 5 PM local time. As the trial approached the end of May, the days became longer: 9 AM to 5:30 PM. During the six-week trial, Vasquez told PEOPLE that she and attorney Ben Chew were “running on fumes” as they worked around the clock out of hotel rooms in Fairfax, Virginia.
“After court, we would go back to the hotel where we lived and was our little nest, if you will, for months,” Vasquez explained. “We would change. We would have food served. Then we had two war rooms where we would be until sometimes 5:00 in the morning the next day. It was very intense.”
She continued, “We worked with the most amazing group of young lawyers that are excellent and strategic and came into this case with different experiences and looked at this evidence in a really critical way.”
Vasquez was promoted to a partner at Brown Rudnick due to her overwhelming success in the trial.
Camille Vasquez Says That The Johnny Depp Verdict Was A Team Effort
Vasquez, who handled Heard’s cross-examination, revealed how much preparation she brought with her into the courtroom.
“Before I did her cross and before I delivered the opening and closing arguments, I would go to bed around 1 or 2 in the morning. And then my team would stay up till 5, 5:30, and slide whatever it was that we were working on under my door,” she said. “I would wake up to them under my door and they would sleep for an hour, an hour and a half. Then we would all go to court together. I mean, we were really running on fumes.”
She added, “I was the one that delivered the cross-examination, but I was very clear that this wasn’t my cross-examination. This was our team’s.”
Vasquez said that those on her legal team consisted of people with “different political backgrounds” and people who “saw the case and the evidence differently,” which helped them make their case from every angle.
In addition, all of the people on her legal team “believed Johnny and believed that he didn’t do this.” She added, “We were looking at it from that perspective.”
Camille Vasquez Added That Johnny Depp Has ‘Peace Now’ After Jury Verdict
Now that Depp’s name has been cleared, Vasquez said that “There is a peace now that he wears that he just didn’t have before, and I think it came even before the verdict if I’m being 100 percent honest with you.”
“It was just him being able to tell his story,” she explained. “This was the one way he could finally tell his story and then talk about what actually happened in this relationship. I think that once he was able to do that and expose everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, he felt a sense of relief, and he deserves that.”
Although Heard posted a statement to Instagram after the trial and called it a “setback” for women everywhere, Vasquez doesn’t think that the trial will impact the #MeToo movement or survivors of domestic abuse.
“We all believe that women should, and victims — regardless of gender — should come forward and have their day in court,” she explained. “This case is an example of that. These people had their day in court and the jury decided unanimously that Mr. Depp was defamed. I think it doesn’t get more clear than that. Each case is different and it shouldn’t have an effect on any movement. Domestic violence doesn’t have a gender.”
“I think it takes the same amount of bravery, irrespective of gender, to come forward and expose your entire life the way that Johnny did, and to do that because he knew that it was important to get the truth out,” she continued. “I commend him for his bravery and his courage, just like I do any other victim of domestic abuse who comes forward and stands up and is willing to have their day in court and have everything about their life exposed just to seek justice and the truth.”
