Kate Moss testifies for Depp; Heard expected to be last witness

FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA (REUTERS, NYTIMES) - The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial may be drawing to a close but the bombshells keep dropping.

On Wednesday, Depp's legal team brought forward testimony from British model Kate Moss, a former girlfriend, to rebut a rumour Heard had alluded to earlier in court suggesting that he had pushed Moss down the stairs in the 1990s.

The following day, entertainment trade Deadline reported that Aquaman actress Heard is expected to take the stand again and be the last witness before each side presents their closing arguments on Friday (May27).

Depp, the star of the Pirates Of The Caribbean films and others is suing Heard, 36, for US$50 million (S$70 million), saying she defamed him when she claimed in an op-ed that she was a victim of domestic abuse.

In turn, Heard has counter-sued for US$100 million, saying Depp smeared her by calling her a liar.

In Moss' brief testimony over a video call, she told the jury sitting in Fairfax County, Virginia, that she recalled slipping down the stairs at a resort in Jamaica during their relationship, which she said lasted from 1994-98.

"There had been a rainstorm, and as I left the room I slid down the stairs and I hurt my back," Moss said. "He came running back to help me and carried me to my room and got me medical attention. "He never pushed me, kicked me or threw me down any stairs," Moss said.

Meanwhile, Heard's team confronted Depp with a series of text messages in which he appeared to use vile language in reference to women, writing in 2016 that Heard was "begging for total global humiliation."

Depp said that message reflected his shock that Heard was making false allegations about him, but he denied sending a pair of separate messages that included the words, "I need. I want. I take," in reference to a woman.

"You read it right, but I did not write that," he said, later calling the texts "grotesque."

"Perhaps someone else had my phone," says Depp whose team has one more rebuttal left.

Deadline reported that Heard is expected to close out the last day of witness testimony in the six-week-long trial that started on April 11.

She has accused Depp of repeated physical abuse, as well as several instances of sexual assault, and has said she only ever hit back in defense of herself or her sister. Depp has denied ever hitting or sexually assaulting Heard, and has described her as the abuser in the relationship.