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3 h, dec 7, 2015 y - GUARDIAN Johnny Depp's dogs: Amber Heard 'looking forward' to fighting charges

Description:

The actor Amber Heard has said she is “looking forward” to fighting charges of illegally bringing two Yorkshire terriers into Australia, with a five-day trial to be heard on the Gold Coast next year.

Heard’s lawyers indicated that her husband, Johnny Depp, might also appear during the case but said he did not “wish his presence to be disruptive of this court”.

That was “a bit of an understatement”, the Gold Coast magistrate Joan White remarked.

Heard, who is accused of violating Australia’s biosecurity laws by bringing the couple’s dogs, Pistol and Boo, into the country by private jet in May, released a statement saying she had instructed her lawyers to enter not guilty pleas after the case was adjourned for the fourth time on Monday.

It is not clear whether Depp, whom Heard accompanied while he was filming the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, is among the dozen witnesses to be called by the commonwealth director of public prosecutions.

But Heard’s lawyers indicated his appearance had been “foreshadowed”. Heard’s barrister, Paula Morreau, said: “Obviously it’s foreshadowed and they wanted to attempt to … ” before White interjected to say she was “just being facetious”.

Heard, who is yet to appear in the legal proceedings, said in her statement her lawyers had told her “there has been no necessity for me to attend court to date despite my willingness to do so”.

“Whilst I am unable to comment on the specific matters before the court I would like to say that I respect the importance of Australia’s laws,” she said.

“My decision to defend these charges, as will become apparent in the appropriate forum of the court, is not intended to in any way diminish the importance of Australia’s laws. I look forward to attending the hearing of these matters.”

White said Heard’s request to have the matter go to trial before mid-February would probably require an extra magistrate to travel from Brisbane to assist with the caseload in the Southport magistrates court. This would involve “significant discussion if not argument with Brisbane about getting someone to do it”, White said.

She said it therefore might not be possible to grant Heard a trial before that date. But she adjourned the case to go before a coordinating magistrate on 15 December in an attempt to accommodate the actor’s request.

The prosecutor, Laura Hamilton, said the crown had “some difficulty with the timeframe” requested by Heard as it had managed to contact only eight of 12 witnesses it intended to call, three of whom would be unavailable until mid-February.

Hamilton said the crown would take at least three days to present its case against Heard. White listed the trial for five days “to be safe”.

Heard has been charged with illegally importing animals into the country and producing a false document, commonwealth offences that carry respective maximum penalties of 10 years in jail and a $102,000 fine, and one year in jail and a $10,200 fine.

The crown alleges that Heard hid the arrival of the dogs from customs and falsified her passenger arrival card.

Added to timeline:

9 hours ago
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The Johnny Depp Chronology Timeline
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Date:

3 h, dec 7, 2015 y
Now
~ 8 years and 3 months ago

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