Oberlin College alumnus testifies in Depp-Heard defamation trial (VIDEO)

An Oberlin College graduate has testified in the defamation case brought by movie star Johnny Depp against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard. Terence Dougherty, who now lives in Manhattan and is chief operating officer and general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, testified on how his organization's legal department was involved in reviewing an op-ed penned by Heard that is at the heart of the defamation lawsuit. Depp, known for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, is suing for $50 million, claiming Heard, of "Aquaman" and "Justice League" fame, destroyed his reputation and career. She in turn has filed a $100 million counterclaim. Over the course of three weeks, the trial has ranged from accusations of physical attacks to questions about drunken benders. It's spanned readings of graphic text messages, audio of Depp threatening to cut himself, their therapist's description of "mutual abuse" while the two were married and Depp's claim that Heard defecated in the bed they shared. The key exhibit is the 2018 op-ed by Heard, which was published in The Washington Post. It was titled "I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture's wrath. That has to change." It doesn't mention Depp by name. But in the piece, Heard wrote that she, like many women, had been "harassed and sexually assaulted by the time I was of college-age" and kept quiet. Eventually, she decided to speak out despite fear of being blacklisted in Hollywood, Heard wrote. Dougherty graduated in 1991 from Oberlin, where he majored in history and English and also studied viola da gamba at the Conservatory of Music. He went on to earn a juris doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1998. Before working at the ACLU, he practiced law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. His testimony for the case was prerecorded in December and introduced at the trial Thursday. Dougherty said Heard was seeking to become an "ambassador" on the issue of violence against women. To that end, she pledged $3.5 million in donations to the ACLU, Dougherty said. "We were aware very early on that her intention to contribute the $3.5 million to us was half of her $7 million divorce proceedings," he said. As of the date Dougherty's deposition was recorded, the ACLU had received $350,000 directly from Heard, an additional $100,000 from her in the form of a check from Depp and $850,000 funneled through donor-advised funds. That's $1.3 million in all. Dougherty testified that $500,000 came through a fund believed to be associated with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whom Heard dated while separated from Depp. The first of the donations attributed to Heard arrived in or shortly after August 2016, Dougherty testified. When the ACLU reached out in 2018 to learn why Heard had stopped making contributions toward the $3.5 million pledge, "We learned she was having financial difficulties," he said. The other half of the divorce settlement was supposed to go to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.