Closing arguments ask jurors to consider what their verdict in defamation case will mean for domestic abuse victims

The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial headed toward its conclusion on Friday as the dueling parties offered closing arguments after a seven-week trial that has gripped public attention and become something of a litmus test for the state of gender relations.

Seven of 11 impaneled jurors selected for the trial when it started in April spent a couple of hours beginning to deliberate a verdict after the conclusion of those closing arguments, but they won’t return a verdict for a few days at least. They were sent home Friday afternoon until Tuesday in advance of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday.

Actor denies putting human feces in couple’s bed and claims ‘he was talking to people who weren’t in the room’

Johnny Depp was hallucinating and his sobriety had completely collapsed in the final months of his marriage, his ex-wife – fellow actor Amber Heard – testified on Monday in the civil lawsuit between the two.

Heard was back on the stand as the trial resumed in a Virginia courtroom after a one-week hiatus.