9 h, apr 18, 2016 y - AUSTRALIAN COURT HEARING Amber Heard PLEADED GUILTY Johnny Depp Attended

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FROM THE AUSTRALIAN COURIER MAIL:

8.45am:
HOLLYWOOD superstar Johnny Depp and his wife Amber Heard arrived at Southport Court for their day of reckoning with a Gold Coast judge. The glamour couple arrived about 8.45am and were followed by a pack of more than 30 journalists and photographers. Depp’s only comment was “Fine, thank you,” when questioned by reporters.

8.58am On Apr 18, 2016
Accused quarantine flouter Amber Heard and her Hollywood husband Johnny Depp have been mobbed by a large and excitable media pack on the way into the Southport Magistrates Court.

Heard broke her months-long silence on the case with a barely audible "fine, thanks".

9.03am On Apr 18, 2016

A strong police presence is flanking the entrance to the court house.

At least 10 officers are keeping watch over a motley crew of reporters, photographers, camera operators and at least a couple of locals just keen for a sticky beak.

9.14am On Apr 18, 2016
The Commonwealth case against Ms Amber Laura Heard is due to get underway in court nine of the Southport Magistrates Court imminently.
The court is yet to convene.
It is standing room only in the court room, with many TV reporters discussing the biggest media scrum they have ever been part of as she and her superstar husband arrived.
It had been rumoured the pair would make a statement outside the court before proceedings commenced, however they walked straight in, saying little to media.

9.15am
Depp and Heard entered courtroom 10 on the third floor of Southport Magistrates Court for the sentencing hearing. Controversial magistrate Bernadette Callaghan is presiding over the sentence.

9.15am On Apr 18, 2016
Case has resolved as a plea.

9.26am On Apr 18, 2016
The Department of Agriculture and Amber Heard have reached a resolution over their long running battle over the illegal importations of her two terriers. A three hour hearing has been allocated in court 10 at Southport Magistrates Court, in which she will plead guilty to three bio security charges. This excuses her husband, Johnny Depp, from giving evidence at what had been scheduled for a four day contested hearing.

9.27am On Apr 18, 2016
Court is in session.
Ms Heard and her husband are sitting in the front left corner.
She is about to formally plead guilty. She has pleaded guilty only to the charge of falsifying her immigration card. The illegal importation charges have been dropped.

9.43am On Apr 18, 2016
Depp and Heard, both dressed in black, are sitting behind their lawyers.
The case has been adjourned until 11am in order for the magistrate to read a "substantial volume" of material about the case.
Depp has been scribbling notes on a post-it note as prosecution and defence lawyers have been addressing the judge, with his wife's handbag slung over the back of his chair.
At one point, he dropped the post-it pad, giving his wife a supportive wink as he lent over to pick it up.

11.03am On Apr 18, 2016
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are back in the courtroom to learn her fate.
The pair are again sitting next to each other in swivel chairs behind her lawyers, chatting quietly to each other as we wait for the magistrate to enter.

11.18am On Apr 18, 2016
The facts are being read by the Commonwealth prosecutor.This is the stuff we already know. Private jet, two dogs, false arrival card, etc. Pistol and Boo were here for nearly three weeks before they were discovered.

Prosecutor Peter Callaghan SC told the court Heard was required ‘like any other person’ to fill out an incoming passenger card. Under the section which asked whether they were bringing anything, including animals, she wrote ‘no’. “She acknowledges this was false,” he said.
Mr Callaghan conceded travellers are often distracted when filling out arrival forms after long flights and ‘it could be accepted’ that this could have been the case with Heard.

11.30am On Apr 18, 2016
Heard’s lawyer, Jeremy Kirk, SC, told the court Heard had made a video apology and expressions of remorse for her actions.
Defence lawyer Jeremy Kirk, SC, told the court Heard had first offered to plead guilty to the count of producing a false document if the other charges were dropped back in November last year. That offer was rejected by prosecutors, only to be accepted five and a half months later.

In her statement, Amber Heard said travel documents for dogs Boo and Pistol fell to ‘her husband’s people’ when the couple travel together, as they did on the day in question last April. In her statement, Heard said she did not recall ticking ‘no’ on the question asking if she was bringing animals into Australia. In her statement, she accepted full responsibility for her actions but said she did not set out to deceive anyone.

11.35am On Apr 18, 2016
On the couple's first trip to Australia the dogs did not go because the documentation was not ready, the defence has told the court.

Depp's personal assistant indicated the dogs would be good to travel in April, so the couple assumed all the relevant clearances had been made.

"We're not usually involved in the details of those travel arrangements," Depp said in his statement.

Mr Kirk said she had nothing to gain from ticking ‘no’ on the animal question as it had only seen ‘a world of pain would be opened up as indeed it has been’. “It was a tired, terrible mistake,” he said. “She knew she was bringing in animals.” He said she wrongly believed the pets had their own immigration documents.

Earlier, Heard pleaded guilty to providing a false immigration document but has had two other charges against her dropped.

A five-day hearing had been set down at Southport Magistrate’s Court but her barrister today entered a guilty plea.

11.54am On Apr 18, 2016
Heard's defence lawyer said she did not deliberately falsify her arrival card because she genuinely thought quarantine clearance had been taken care of by her husband's staff.

"Everything is handled by his people," she said in her statement.

"This is usually handed over to Johnny's staff, along with my passport and visa."

She said during a conversation with her husband in their Los Angeles kitchen prior to their trip to Australia last April, he assured her Pistol and Boo could travel with them.

Heard also assumed that because there were separate arrival documents obtained for the dogs' arrival, based on her travel experience, she did not think she had to declare them on her arrival card.

"She positively believed the relevant documentation had been provided to the relevant authorities," her lawyer said.

Lawyers for Amber Heard are seeking to have her discharged without a conviction.
Defence barrister Jeremy Kirk SC has asked the court to deal with Heard under Section 19 (B) of the Crimes Act which allows for a guilty plea but for the defendant to be let off if the offence is “trivial” or committed under “extenuating circumstances”.

He said Heard was not seeking “special treatment” but was “entitled as anyone else” to equal treatment .

Magistrate Bernadette Callaghan adjourned the case until 2.30pm. She said she wanted the case finalised today to “let people get on with their lives”.

2.30pm: HOLLYWOOD star Amber Heard has escaped further punishment after pleading guilty to producing a false document to Australian customs officials.
After a two-hour break for deliberations, Magistrate Bernadette Callaghan today placed Heard on a $1000 good behaviour bond.

No conviction was recorded.

Heard must be of good behaviour for a period of one month or risk paying a $1000 fine. The bond applies only to any offences that would be committed under Australian jurisdiction.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce released a statement which said he appreciated Ms Heard’s “willingness to take responsibility for her actions last year and her acknowledgment that she broke our national biosecurity laws.”

“These legal proceedings clearly illustrate the government’s serious approach to enforcing our national biosecurity laws, and the fact that there are no exceptions to these laws – they apply to everyone equally,” he said.

“As an island nation, Australia is free of many pests and diseases common throughout the world that have harmed human health, agricultural industries, animals, plants and the environment.”


SOURCE:
UK Court Documents:
- Transcript Day 12 pp7

US VA Court Documents:
- Johnny Depp Exhibit 114 Trial Transcript

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