Hicksville incident

## Assault incident #3

**Hicksville incident**, also known as **Assault incident #3**, refers to an incident in which Johnny Depp physically and sexually assaulted Amber Heard after seeing a female friend touching her. The incident took place in June 2013 at Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree.

## Lead-up and outcome

Depp and Heard went on a trip to Hicksville with a group of friends, which included Raquel Pennington, Kristina Sexton, Kelly Sue Milano, Nathan Holmes, and Heard's sister Whitney Henriquez. The plan was to do “laughy drugs”, such as mushrooms and MDMA. They were hanging out by the campfire and listening to music. It was going well until a female friend, Milano, who was high on drugs, started getting too comfortable with Heard and either hugged or touched Heard.

### Heard's account

Depp became hostile and jealous. He yelled at Milano, “Hey man, you think you’re touching my f\*\*\*ing girl?” At first, Milano thought Depp was kidding, which enraged him more. He got up, grabbed Milano's wrist, twisted it and threatened to break it.

Heard tried to intervene and made Depp agree to go and talk about the incident inside their trailer. Depp then turned the rage onto the trailer itself and began destroying it. “He began smashing things. He picked up something on the table [and] threw it right into the glass cabinet. He hit, with his hand, a wall sconce. He cleared the tabletop on the little fold-down kitchen, dining room area in this trailer.” Depp was screaming at her. Eventually, Heard went to the back of the trailer, the bedroom area. Depp came in and was looking for something. He cleared things off the bed. Heard went into the bathroom and as she came out, he asked her where "it" is and how long she has been hiding it. They were standing in the little hallway area outside of the bathroom, when he starts patting her down. He ripped her clothing off and conducted a “cavity search” while looking for his missing cocaine. “I just stood there looking at the stupid light. I didn’t know what else to do.”

When Heard left the trailer the next morning, their friends were out by the pool in the center of the trailer park. Heard remembered she put on her face and went back to them. "I remember seeing my friends by the pool and having a great time. And no one knew, I felt so lonely. I smiled and made a joke about how trashed the trailer got." They went to get the manager, who started off furious that Depp had wrecked the trailer. The manager went into into the trailer and looked around and exclaimed: "Woah, what happened here. Woah." Depp then talked his way out of the damages and somehow charmed the manager into no longer being upset.

### Depp's account

Depp admitted he was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, but he was not out of control. He felt that Milano was touching Heard in a way that was “extremely sexual.” He denied grabbing her wrist or attempt to insult or intimidate her in any way, he merely asked her to stop touching Heard. “I removed Miss Kelly Sue’s hand from Ms Heard’s body. And told her not to do that.”

When they went back to the cabin, Depp claimed Heard became verbally abusive to him and instigated an argument between them. He did, then, knock a sconce off of a wall in the cabin, but that was the extent of the damage. “I was very upset. At yet again being treated as, pardon the expression, the turd in the punchbowl. That was not something I deserved for doing what I thought right and correct.” At no point did he become physically abusive toward Heard.

When he spoke with the manager of the property the next morning, he explained what happened and agreed to pay for the damages to the cabin, which the manager agreed to without issue.

## Witnesses

### Kristina Sexton

Sexton heard screaming and shouting from outside the trailer and recognized Depp’s voice. She went into the trailer the next day and testified that the trailer was “pretty messed up” and the damage was more than just a broken wall light. She said there was broken glass everywhere as well as torn fabric and everything was in disarray.

### Raquel Pennington

Pennington witnessed Depp speaking to Milano. He said something to the effect of, “Get off my woman,” but Pennington did not clarify the manner in which he said this or if he threatened to break Milano’s wrist. Heard reported to Pennington the next day and said Depp had been angry the preceding night and that he “trashed” the trailer.

### Whitney Henriquez

Henriquez went to bed early on the night of the alleged incident and did not witness Depp’s interactions with Milano or his fight with Heard. The next morning, she visited Depp and Heard’s trailer and stated that it “looked like a bomb had gone off” inside. Many things were broken and messy; it looked like someone had “ransacked it.”

### Malcolm Connolly

Depp's bodyguard, Malcolm Connolly, testified that Depp spoke with the manager of the trailer on his own and dealt with the problem. Connolly did not look inside the trailer.

### Morgan Night

The owner of the Hicksville Trailer Park, Morgan Night, testified that he spoke with Depp and Heard upon arrival. He claimed that Depp was kind and friendly, while Heard was quiet. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood until the couple split from the group, after which Heard began yelling at Depp, who was “cowering” and “seemed almost afraid.” Night thought that was an odd thing to see as Depp was so much older than Heard. Night also stated that the damage in the cabin was minimal and corroborated Depp’s claim that only the light fixture was affected.

## Trials

### UK trial

The judge of the UK trial found Depp had been angry when the assault occurred.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Julia Odom (May 4, 2022). Inside the Hicksville Trailer Amber Heard Claimed Johnny Depp Abused Her In. CheatSheet.
2. ↑ John Christopher Depp II v News Group Newspapers Ltd. & Dan Wootton. BAILII (November 2, 2020).