Depp v. Heard — Trial Archive

Witness

Ron Schnell

Courtroom still of Ron Schnell.

Social-media analyst called by Heard’s legal team to examine Twitter activity.

2022 Defamation Trial Apr 11 – Jun 1, 2022

Called by defendant

194 lines 5 proceedings 15 highlights

About

A director at Berkeley Research Group, Schnell described earlier computer science work at Bell Labs, IBM and Sun Microsystems before Heard’s counsel presented his expertise in statistical and forensic social-media analysis.

He analyzed negative Twitter hashtags about Heard, reporting 2.38 million uses from 2020 to 2022. He described spikes in activity as correlated with statements by Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman and said more than a quarter of the negative tweets he examined referred to Waldman or a variant of his name. Depp’s counsel Wayne Dennison challenged that connection, noting that the hashtags predated the statements and that Schnell’s chart did not mark the statement dates. Schnell acknowledged that his analysis showed correlation, not causation, and that he could not explain why particular spikes occurred.

Depp’s rebuttal expert Doug Bania later challenged Schnell’s analysis by counting tweets that directly referenced the statements. Heard’s counsel questioned whether Bania’s exact-phrase searches would miss paraphrases.

Trial Record (5)

2022 Defamation Trial Apr 11, 2022 – Jun 1, 2022 5 proceedings

Day 19 May 19, 2022

Direct Direct Examination of Ron Schnell Ron Schnell Adam Nadelhaft 4 44

Summary

Heard's counsel walks Ron Schnell through his computer science credentials and social media forensic expertise before tendering him as an expert; Depp's team requests voir dire.

Highlights (4)

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“I was a professor at NYU when I was 14”

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“I did work at MIT in the artificial intelligence lab for the two founders of artificial intelligence, Patrick Winston and Marvin Minsky”

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“My business partner on that was Sylvester Stallone.”

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“I don't consider myself working for either plaintiff or defendant. I take my role as an independent expert extremely seriously.”

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Voir Dire Voir Dire Examination of Ron Schnell Ron Schnell Wayne Dennison 2

Summary

Dennison's opening voir dire question about Schnell's tweet analysis is cut off when the court sustains an objection limiting voir dire to qualifications only.

Direct Direct Examination of Ron Schnell Ron Schnell Adam Nadelhaft 4 64

Summary

Heard's expert Ron Schnell presents Twitter API analysis showing 2.38 million negative hashtag uses against Heard, with spikes correlating to Waldman's alleged defamatory statements.

Highlights (4)

Quote

“There were over 1,243,000 and change uses of those hashtags during that time frame you just mentioned.”

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“I found that there are Waldman statements that are the same as on the 8th on the 6th and the 7th, the Daily Mail on the 6th and Vanity Fair on the 7th.”

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“So I found over 25 percent of In the negative hashtag tweets, or one out of every four on average, had either "Waldman" or I "Wald-Mignon."”

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“I sort of adopted Mr. Bania's opinion on that and found this large number. So I agree with Mr. Depp's expert that this could show a substantial correlation.”

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Recross Recross Examination of Ron Schnell Ron Schnell Wayne Dennison 3 76

Summary

Dennison questioned Schnell about hashtags that predated Waldman's statements and whether the Twitter data showed causation rather than correlation.

Highlights (3)

Quote

“People can form a negative opinion of anyone without reading anything; that's correct.”

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“I'm only talking about correlation.”

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Quote

“Big fan of justice.”

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Redirect Redirect Examination of Ron Schnell Ron Schnell Adam Nadelhaft 4 8

Summary

Nadelhaft's redirect reaffirms Schnell's core findings: all sampled "justice for Johnny Depp" tweets were negative toward Heard, 25%+ cited Waldman, and negative volume doubled after April 2020.

Highlights (4)

Quote

“All of them.”

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“Over 25 percent, 1 out of 4.”

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“I don't see any end to it now.”

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“No, they've not.”

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Evidence From Their Proceedings (5)

Documents Unclear

Schnell Social Media Hashtag Analysis / Dataset

Ron Schnell's social media analysis and underlying Twitter API dataset tracking negative hashtag tweets against Heard from April 2020 through January 2021 and into 2022, tracking…

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Documents Admitted

Demonstrative 1900 — Monthly Negative Hashtag Bar Chart

Demonstrative 1900 — a monthly bar chart of negative hashtag volume against Heard and Depp from April 2020 through January 2021, derived from Twitter search API data.

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Documents Admitted

Demonstrative 1901 — Extended Hashtag Line Graph

Demonstrative 1901 — a line graph of the same hashtag data extended through January 2022, with the dominant 'Justice for Johnny Depp' hashtag removed for scaling clarity.

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Documents Unclear

Schnell Hashtag Timeline Chart — Negative Volume 2020–2022

A demonstrative chart of negative hashtag usage over time from 2020 to 2022, showing volume spikes intended to be correlated with Waldman statement dates, presented during…

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Documents Admitted

Schnell Term-Frequency Chart — 'Hoax,' 'Waldman' (Dem. 1902)

An admitted demonstrative chart prepared by social media analyst Ron Schnell showing term-frequency searches for 'hoax,' 'fake,' 'fraud,' 'Waldman,' and 'Wald-Mignon' within the…

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