After representingJohnny Deppin theAmber Hearddefamation trial, attorneys Camille Vasquez and Benjamin Chew will reunite with the actor to defend him in an on-set assault lawsuit.
Gregg Brooks, the location manager on one of Depp’s moviesCity of Lies,accused the actor of punching him twicein the ribs after screaming at him on set in an alleged altercation on April 13, 2017. Brooks filed a civil complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court back in July 2018, and it’s finally set to begin trial next month.
A source close to Depp, 59, tells PEOPLE he is enlisting both Vasquez and Chew again for his defense in this case.
Law & Crime Networkreported that its request to have cameras in the L.A. courtroom have so far been denied, contrasting the live-streamed, highly publicized attention made on the six-week Depp v. Heard trial held in Fairfax County, Virginia.
That case ended with a verdict of the seven-person jury siding mostly with Depp, who was awarded more than $10 million in damages when they decided his ex-wife Heard, 36, defamed him in a 2018 op-ed. Heard — who intends to appeal the verdict — won one of her three defamation countersuit claims and was awarded $2 million in damages.
Heard maligned the verdict as a “setback” for women’s rights, while Depp — who has long denied the actress' domestic violence allegations — said the “jury gave me my life back.”
Camille Vasquez and Johnny Depp.SHAWN THEW/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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The actor’s lawyer said in a statement at the time, “Despite false media reports suggesting otherwise, Johnny Depp never touched the person suing him, as over a dozen witnesses present will attest. In a court filing we have generally denied all claims and we will fight these latest sham allegations.”
Benjamin Chew and Camille Vasquez.NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
After being put on hold amid the controversy,City of Lies, which also stars Forest Whitaker, was finally released in March 2021.
Vasquez, who became somewhat of a social media star among Depp fans during the Heard trial, recently told PEOPLE about the “intense"round-the-clock worktheir legal team did, admitting they were “running on fumes” at certain points.
“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,” said Vasquez, who was promoted to partner at the Brown Rudnick law firm the week after the verdict.
source: people.com
