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An old mugshot of Amber Heard recently resurfaced online amid her ongoing defamation trial with her ex-husband Johnny Depp. The information in the legal document listed the processing date of the arrest as September 12, 2003, and the location as Austin, Texas.
Shortly after the mugshot came to light, a Reddit thread titled, “Was Amber Heard involved in vehicular manslaughter as a teenager?” went viral online. A host of social media users claimed that Heard was allegedly arrested at the time for her involvement in a car accident.
Meanwhile, an article by Yahoo News, documenting Heard’s early life, suggested that the actress lost her best friend to a fatal car accident at the age of 16. It was also mentioned that she dropped out of school the following year to pursue a modeling career in New York before moving to Los Angeles to start acting.
Reddit user @coldkate attempted to find a connection between the two timelines and questioned Heard’s decision to drop out of high school following the incident:
However, others pointed out that Heard’s 2003 juvenile arrest record stemmed from driving with a suspended license and there was reportedly no proof of the case being related to her best friend’s death in a car accident:
In addition to the 2003 case, Amber Heard was previously arrested in 2009, due to to a number of accusations of domestic abuse reported by her former girlfriend Tasya Van Ree. USA Today reported that the former couple reportedly got into an argument at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington.
Following the fight, Heard allegedly grabbed Ree and struck her arm, leading to her arrest by the Port of Seattle Police on charges of domestic violence/misdemeanor assault in the fourth degree.
Authorities reportedly received a request to delete the arrest information about the case in 2011. Heard later testified about the incident in 2016 and denied claims of domestic abuse. Van Ree also stated that the incident was “misinterpreted.”
Netizens react to Amber Heard's juvenile mugshot
Amber Heard has been under intense scrutiny ever since her highly publicized Johnny Depp defamation trial began in Fairfax County court on April 11.
Fans of Depp and Heard have long been involved in consistent online debates about the case and have unearthed several past incidents involving the actors in the process.
As a juvenile mugshot of Heard surfaced on social media, it prompted netizens to react to the picture and the arrest information. While some mocked the Aquaman star on Twitter, others came to her defense:
As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if Heard or her legal team will address speculations about her juvenile arrest record. It is also unknown if Depp’s team will mention her 2003 arrest during cross-examination in court.
The Depp vs. Heard defamation trial is currently on a weeklong hiatus and will resume on May 16, with Heard returning to the stand to present her testimony.
