The trial judge Amber Heard made a controversial decision, suspected of favoring Johnny Depp

The fact that Penney Azcarate - Chief Justice of the Fairfax District Court (Virginia, USA) - she presided over the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard allowed the camera to be placed in the courtroom has caused a lot of controversy.

At this trial, the audience witnessed grisly testimonies, especially from Heard, as she tried to describe Depp's offensive actions. The last time she stood on the podium for testimony, the actress said it was "humiliating" to relive the disgusting moments in front of the camera.

And as always, the actor "Pirates of the Caribbean" still denies all charges and accuses his ex-wife of concocting an elaborate hoax to destroy his career.

According to Variety, Heard's legal team tried to remove the camera from the courtroom but failed. Elaine Bredehoft - Heard's lawyer - expressed concern that the actress was psychologically affected because the media was paying too much attention to "anti-Amber Heard channels".

"These channels will look at any unfavorable facts about Heard, and judge it," Bredehoft said. "They'll cut Heard's answer out of context and make it into a clip, playing it over and over again."

Meanwhile, Depp's attorney, Ben Chew, supported the camera installation. He and the Hollywood actor believe in transparency, the way the global public sees it.

Viewership grew exponentially as the hearing progressed, according to Law & Crime, the service that livestreamed the entire incident. In the moment Depp raised his point, maintaining his stance on May 25, the number of viewers watching live on the channel peaked at 1,247,163 - more than double the peak when the actor gave his testimony in April.

And over the past few weeks, photos and videos of Depp and Heard's expressions have gone viral on social media, spreading around the world.

In an interview with Variety, Judge Penney Azcarate said he received a lot of questions about the issue of allowing the camera to work. Azcarate said it was her responsibility to maintain the openness of the proceedings. If cameras are banned, she worries reporters will wait in court and awkward situations will arise.

"I have no good reason to ban it," Azcarate insisted.

However, observers insist that Azcarate's decision will have a negative impact on victims of violence.

Michele Dauber, a professor at Stanford Law School, said: "This is the worst decision in the face of rising intimate partner and sexual violence."

Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney who has represented sex crime victims in high-profile cases, said her clients don't want their real names used in public court records to avoid leading to the consequences.

"The live stream only exaggerates what the plaintiff and the defendant have been going through. Their testimony will be divided in many hateful ways. I am saddened and disgusted that livestreaming the trial will make people - especially victims of sexual violence - fear in the journey to seek justice and speak the truth," Tuegel shared.

Virginia law gives the trial judge nearly complete discretion over camera placement. Even so, state statutes do list some cases where filming is prohibited, such as when "victims and victims' families of sex crimes give testimony".

During a hearing on February 25, nearly two months before Heard and Depp faced off face-to-face, attorney Elaine Bredehoft argued that Aquaman was the victim of sexual assault, so the camera was not allowed. However, Judge Azcarate said there was no need to apply the statute to civil cases like those of Depp and Heard.

Cameras are rare, but that doesn't mean they don't exist in Virginia courts. A Fairfax County judge allowed it to appear in the Julio Blanco Garcia murder trial in 2013. But Joe King, an Alexandria-based defense attorney, said that was the only exception.

According to Variety, King once represented Charles Severance, the man who was tried and found guilty of murder in 2015 in Fairfax. This case is notorious locally, but the judge only allows filming, bans livestreaming. King said the judge also denied a request to broadcast another murder trial in Alexandria.

In 2012, a judge in Charlottesville banned the installation of cameras at his trial and sentenced player George Huguely to murder his ex-girlfriend, saying the cameras would harm witnesses and the jury. The media intervened fiercely, but the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the decision.

Attorney Lawrence McClafferty agrees. "Virginia is a conservative place. We're not used to cameras, and it can be distracting for everyone. I don't think we should see more cameras in future trials," he said. , McClafferty emphasized.

As a close watcher of Depp-Heard's trial, he repeatedly witnessed a group of supporters of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor waiting outside to see their idol, even if only briefly. To him, this image is not interesting.

According to the media, it is possible that the final judgment with the worst outcome is that both sides lose the case and have to compensate each other. The panel has yet to reach a consensus after nearly three hours of deliberation, and next Monday is a national holiday in the United States, so Judge Penney Azcarate has announced that the results will be made public on Tuesday. next Tuesday.

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