Johnny Depp's lawyer explains why he won't look at Amber Heard during trial

• Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's defamation trial resumed after a short hiatus on Monday.
• Heard took the stand and faced cross-examination.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp's defamation trial resumed after a weeklong hiatus on Monday, during which the 36-year-old actress took the stand and faced cross-examination from Depp's lawyers.

In one of her opening questions, Camille Vasquez, one of Depp's lawyers, asked Heard: "Mr. Depp hasn't looked at you once this entire trial, has he?" to which Heard replied: "Not that I've noticed, no."

"You've looked at him many times, haven't you?" Vasquez continued.

Heard responded: "Yes, I have."

Vasquez quickly responded: "You know exactly why Mr. Depp won't look back at you, don't you? He promised you would never see his eyes again, isn't that true?"

Heard told the Virginia court that she doesn't recall whether Depp said those exact words. In response, Depp's attorney played an audio recording of one of the couple's last in-person meetings in 2016, in which Depp told Heard that from that moment on: "We won't have to see each other again. You will not see my eyes again."

Heard organized the final meeting between the two, but at the time, she had filed for a temporary restraining order against Depp. Heard's former agent testified earlier in the trial that the actress organized the meeting because she wanted to get back together with Depp. During her testimony, however, Heard denied that she had been attempting to revive her relationship with Depp.

"I wanted to minimize the animosity, I wanted to reconcile in that way. I didn't want to get back together with him," she said, according to Yahoo.

After the recording finished playing Vasquez, Depp's lawyer said: "He's kept that promise, hasn't he?" in reference to Depp not looking at Heard, to which Heard responded: "As far as I know, he cannot look at me."

"He won't look at you, right Ms. Heard?" said Vasquez.

"He can't," Heard said.

Depp has frequently been seen doodling on a notepad or looking down as Heard has given evidence on the stand at Fairfax County Circuit Court as part of their defamation trial.

The actor first filed the lawsuit against Heard in March 2019, accusing her of defaming him in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she described herself as a victim of domestic violence. Depp alleged that in reality Heard instead physically and verbally attacked him throughout their relationship, culminating with the fight following a dinner party for Heard's 30th birthday on April 21, 2016, in one of their shared penthouse apartments in Los Angeles.

Heard has denied the allegations and countersued, laying out in court filings at least 10 instances in which she says Depp physically abused her, often in what she described were alcohol- or drug-fueled rages.