Johnny Depp's account of severed finger 'not consistent' with injury, hand surgeon testifies

• A hand surgeon cast doubt on Johnny Depp's account of how he severed his finger in 2015.
• Depp had testified that his ex-wife Amber Heard threw a vodka bottle at him, causing the injury.

Johnny Depp's account of how his finger was severed in 2015 was questioned on Monday by a hand surgeon during the actor's ongoing defamation case with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Earlier in the trial, which is in its sixth and final week, Depp said that the tip of his finger was severed after Heard threw a vodka bottle at him. Heard said in court documents that the injury happened when Depp smashed a phone against a wall.

Dr. Richard Moore, an orthopedic surgeon from Wilmington, North Carolina, testified Monday that the injury was "not consistent" with Depp's side of the story when questioned by Heard's legal team.

Moore said: "It's not consistent with what we see in the described injury pattern or in the clinical photographs."

The surgeon said that if the finger was struck by a bottle from above, Depp would have had a "severe" fingernail injury, but Depp's nail appeared to be intact. He added that there would have been other cuts shown on the rest of Depp's hand from the shattered glass from the bottle.

During cross-examination by Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez, Moore said he couldn't completely "rule out" that a vodka bottle caused Depp's injury.

Vasquez also noted that Depp testified that his finger was wrapped around the bar and that the bottle struck him at an angle, not directly from above.

Depp has previously testified that he would never have cut his own finger off because he loves playing guitar.

In an earlier written response to Depp's lawsuit, Heard wrote: "I did not throw a vodka bottle — or any other kind of bottle — at Johnny, not did I cause that injury to Johnny's finger."

Depp has accused Heard of ruining his reputation and career with false domestic violence allegations after she described herself as a victim of domestic violence in a Washington Post op-ed. Heard has countersued, claiming that Depp physically abused her on multiple occasions during their marriage.