Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial: Depp returns to witness stand

Court adjourned at about 4:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday, allowing the jury to be dismissed about 45 minutes earlier than scheduled.

Circuit Judge Penney Azcarate alerted the jury that the trial was still on schedule to have closing arguments Friday morning. Rebuttal witnesses for Heard's countersuit would be allowed to testify Thursday.

Bryan Neumeister, an expert witness called by Depp's legal team, offered testimony explaining data in photos of Heard with injuries allegedly as a result of abuse from Depp.

Neumeister testified that he was not offering an opinion as to whether the photos were intentionally altered. He told the court that he examined EXIF data, which stands for exchangeable image file.

Looking at three different photos that have been used as evidence in the case, Neumeister said the photos appeared the same but were in fact different sizes.

"These photos will not digitally fingerprint with each other. In other words, forensically they don't match," Neumeister said.

The metadata for the photos stated that they went through Apple's "Photos 3.0" app, Neumeister said.

Upon cross-examination, Heard's attorneys noted that Neumeister had no degree or certifications in computer science. Her legal team also noted that Photos is a software that also operates as a "photo sorter" where photos can be saved.

"Did you find any evidence of any modification of EXIF metadata of any photograph in this case?" Heard's attorney asked.

"There's no way to answer that scientifically because ... the evidence we're given," Neumeister said. "There's no way to positively or negatively answer that."

Neumeister noted the only way to be able to fully authenticate the photos would be to have the phone it was taken on because the extractions were taken from computer backups.

Heard's attorneys presented a text message Depp sent to his sister on June 4, 2016, in which he wrote, "I want her replaced on that WB Film!!!" referring to the "Aquaman" franchise.

Depp said he did not try to get Heard fired from "Aquaman," which was released in 2018. Heard was cast in September 2015, according to Depp's testimony.

Depp said he did at one point speak with executives at Warner Bros. Pictures about Heard. "I reached out to them because I vetted her," he said, again denying that he tried to get her fired.

Depp's legal team previously accused Heard of earning her role in the famed "Aquaman" film due to her relationship with Depp.

"I got myself that role by auditioning," Heard said during cross-examination.

Heard has said her role in the franchise's sequel was reduced following domestic violence allegations.

Walter Hamada, president of DC Films for Warner Bros. Pictures, said in a video deposition Tuesday that there were some conversations about potentially recasting Heard's role in the "Aquaman" sequel due to concerns around her chemistry with Jason Momoa, who played the titular role.

Depp denied sending a series of texts presented by Heard's legal team Wednesday.

In the texts presented, Depp referred to a woman's genitalia as "RIGHTFULLY MINE!!!!"

"Should I not just bust in and remove its hinges tonight???" the text read. Another text read: "I want to change her understanding of what it is like to be thrashed about like a pleading Mackrel....I NEED. I WANT. I TAKE."

Depp said, "That's not anything I've ever said or written."

Depp accused Heard's legal team of tampering with the texts. "You could have written that up last night," he said.

When pressed further by his own attorneys, Depp said he doesn't know who the woman named in the texts was and has no recollection of them.

"I don't have that kind of hubris or expectation," he said of the texts. "That's quite grotesque."

Heard's attorney Benjamin Rottenborn questioned Depp on his earlier Wednesday testimony on his alleged fight with Heard in March 2015 in Australia, comparing it against his testimony in the United Kingdom libel trial.

Earlier in the day, Depp was shown a picture of the residence in Australia and asked whether there was a wall-mounted phone. He denied there being a wall-mounted phone there.

When asked again about it by Rottenborn, Depp repeated that he didn't recall a phone.

Rottenborn then read testimony from Depp during the libel litigation he filed in the U.K. against British tabloid The Sun for calling him a "wife beater."

Depp said there was a wall-mounted phone in the bar area of the home in that testimony. When asked if he repeatedly smashed that phone, Depp responded in the U.K. testimony that it was "possible."

"'If that is the case, I do not believe I spent very much time on the phone. I remember ripping the phone off the wall,'" Rottenborn quoted in court from Depp's U.K. testimony. "That was your testimony, correct?"

"It seems it would be, yes," Depp said.

Depp has alleged that Heard threw two vodka bottles at him during the March 2015 Australia argument, which he said resulted in glass severing the tip of his finger. Heard has disputed that characterization, testifying that she believed Depp might have severed his fingertip while smashing the wall-mounted phone.

Heard's legal team questioned Depp about the photos presented by his attorneys that show him with Heard on their honeymoon, in which Depp appears to have a black eye.

Prior to the lunch break, Depp had alleged that Heard hit him on the Orient Express. When asked how he got the injury shown in one photo by his legal team, of Depp and Heard in the Orient Express dining car with chefs from the train, he replied, "Ms. Heard hit me."

Heard's legal team showed another image of Depp taken in July 2015 before Heard and Depp began their train honeymoon on the Orient Express. In the image shown, Depp is holding a child and has what Heard's lawyers said looks like the "exact same mark under your left eye" as in the image on the Orient Express.

"That is the exact area, but a side light will cause that as well," Depp said. "The lens in front, the light on the side will cause that occipital bone, I believe, to appear sunken."

Heard's defense asked, "Just like lights on the side of the train car?"

"That was in fact in the dark," Depp said of the train image. "And I had people on either side of me, so I don't see how light was on either side there."

In response to another image Heard's team showed, Depp claimed it "looks like my eyes have been photoshopped."

Court returned at 2 p.m. E.T. on Wednesday. Heard's legal team began cross-examining Depp.

The trial broke for an hourlong lunch at about 12:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday after Depp's attorneys finished their questioning of him.

Cross-examination of Depp is expected to take place when the case returns after lunch.

Shortly before the court broke for lunch, Depp described the experience of listening to Heard's testimony in the case as "insane" and issued a blanket denial of her allegations.

"It's insane to hear heinous accusations of violence, sexual violence, that she's attributed to me, that she's accused me of," Depp said. "I don't think anyone enjoys having to split themselves open and tell the truth, but there are times when one simply has to because it's gotten out of control. Horrible. Ridiculous. Humiliating. Ludicrous. Painful. Savage. Unimaginably brutal. Cruel. Um, and all false. All false."

Depp went on to say that while no human is perfect, he has never committed sexual battery or physical abuse.

"This is not easy for any of us, I know that," Depp said. "But I did get here and I did tell the truth."