Dr Dawn Hughes is a clinical and forensic psychologist with an independent private practice in New York City. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of PTSD, anxiety disorders, and interpersonal violence. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and has been a recognized expert witness in courts of law for over 20 years.
The first defense witness called to testify in Depp vs Heard was Dr Dawn Hughes who is a forensic psychologist. She was retained by Heard’s legal team and appeared on the stand to rebut the opinions of Dr Shannon Curry who was presented as an expert witness for Mr Depp in his defamation case against Heard.
She is a ABPP certified Forensic Psychologist and President-Elect of the Trauma Division of the American Psychological Association. She was a Research Coordinator for the Sexual Abuse Survivors Program and was an extern-clinician at Narco Freedom, a methadone maintenance clinic.
Her testimony was criticized online by fans who believed that she had shown bias and was a defamer of men. Some cited her tweets that were sexist and claimed that she didn’t believe that men could be survivors of abuse.
In her evaluation of Heard, she met with her for 29 hours and conducted interviews. She also tested her with forensic tests and consulted medical records. She concluded that Heard had post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from Johnny Depp’s alleged infliction of intimate partner violence against her.
