Amber Heard's Dad Was Reportedly Jailed For Running 'Barbaric' Dog Fighting Ring In Texas
Talk about having skeletons in your closet.
Amber Heard's dad, David Clinton Heard, ran an illegal dog fighting ring that led to his arrest, conviction and jail time, according to Radar.
The shocking revelation was brought to light by Paul Barresi — known as the “real-life Ray Donovan” — who was hired by Amber's legal team amid her nasty court battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp.
Instead of finding evidence against Depp to prove he's been verbally or physically abusive towards others, Barresi uncovered David's sickening past. The Hollywood "fixer" discovered that the self-proclaimed animal lover served jail time for animal cruelty after he orchestrated a torturous pit bull ring in Texas in the 1980s, Radar reported.
Paul Barresi
According to the criminal court filings from Midland County, TX., Amber's dad — who “struggled with alcohol and drug abuse issues his whole life,” claimed the actress — ran the cruel animal abuse ring on his 10-acres of land. There were at least seven pit bulls involved in the horrid ring. Narcotics and professional poker equipment were also reportedly found on the property.
David essentially pleaded guilty, it was reported, but only served 15 days in prison. He basically got off scot-free on the charge of "cruelty to animals" by pleading "nolo contendere" — this plea carries the same fundamental consequences as a guilty plea but without the admission of guilt.
Barresi told Radar he began looking into Amber's father because he heard David was an "abusive alcoholic" and knows "women often enter into relationships with men who are like their father," referring to Amber's claims against Depp.
"I dove into the state of Texas' archived court catacombs and unearthed the shocking documents and proof about Amber’s dad," Barresi continued, before questioning whether Amber knew of her dad's dark past.
“I found however that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I can’t help but ask, whether Amber and members of her family knew that her father was the ring leader of barbaric dog fights that rendered pit bulls maimed or dead," he wondered.
Meanwhile, Amber's ex-husband was previously portrayed as an animal abuser in his publicized lawsuit against The Sun newspaper. The legal battle came to be after the 58-year-old sued News Group Newspapers (NGN) — the publisher of The Sun — for labeling him a "wife beater" in an April 2018 article.
The newspaper published the piece following Amber's op-ed that year where she detailed her experience as an alleged abuse victim. (Heard did not specifically name Depp as her abuser.) Despite the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actor's insistence that he was the victim in their relationship, the newspaper refused to retract their statement.
In a slew of damaging evidence, Depp was reportedly accused of dangling a dog out of a moving vehicle. (He was also accused of writing on a mirror in blood amid sordid claims of drug and alcohol abuse.)
The incident in question involving the dog allegedly took place when the former couple was in the car with the blonde babe's Yorkshire terrier, Pistol, Amber's sister, Depp's assistant and a driver.
"When you were in the car, you were smoking and you opened the window and you were angry and you were aggressive," The Sun's lawyer, Sasha Wass QC, reportedly said to the embattled actor when he was put on the witness stand, to which he replied saying he was "not in that mode at all."
Depp was then accused of holding the dog out the window and "making howling noises." He refuted the allegations, describing them as "absolute utter falsity" and "fraudulent." The actor reportedly pointed out that he doesn't "think hanging an animal, a small defenseless dog that weighs three pounds, out of a window is fun."
When asked if he laughed at the suggestion of putting Pistol in a microwave, Depp reportedly replied by explaining it was a "running joke" between himself, his 35-year-old ex and others. "I wouldn't say that I was the inventor of that particular joke and also I wasn't the only one who brought anything like that up."
Depp's libel claim was dismissed in November, with a British High Court judge declaring that the outlet's depiction of the Edward Scissorhands actor was "substantially true" after hearing Amber's claims of abuse. Depp tried to appeal the judge's ruling, but he was denied in March.
Meanwhile, his $50 million defamation case against Amber has been delayed until next year.
