Stephanie Calnan
Stephanie Calnan is an attorney who served on the plaintiff's legal team representing Johnny Depp in the 2022 Fairfax County, Virginia defamation trial. She was one of several attorneys on Depp's trial team, handling witness examination responsibilities for key witnesses on the island-incident and expert psychiatric tracks.
Testimony Impact
Calnan conducted direct examinations of two Depp witnesses: Tara Roberts, Depp's longtime Bahamas island manager, and Dr. Richard Shaw, a Stanford-affiliated forensic psychiatrist. With Roberts, she built methodical chronological foundation before eliciting eyewitness testimony about the December 2015 altercation — Roberts' observation of a nasal mark on Depp and no injuries on Heard. With Shaw, she established credentials and drew out his central opinion that Heard's expert Dr. Spiegel violated the APA Goldwater Rule by opining on Depp without examination. Her two redirects were minimal but targeted: correcting the beach-incident framing from Roberts' cross, and a single confirmatory question before releasing Shaw.
Key Moments
Roberts testified under Calnan's direct that she observed a mark on Depp's nose and no injuries on Heard after the December 2015 island altercation, providing the most proximate eyewitness corroboration of Depp's account.
Day 9 · Direct of Tara Roberts
Calnan elicited Roberts' reframing of the cross-examined beach incident as a hammock fall rather than drug incapacitation, partially rehabilitating the witness on the most damaging cross point.
Day 9 · Redirect of Tara Roberts
Calnan methodically established Shaw's Stanford and Albert Einstein credentials, then drew out his core opinion that Spiegel violated the Goldwater Rule — the ethical centerpiece of Depp's challenge to Heard's psychiatric expert.
Day 21 · Direct of Richard Shaw
Calnan's redirect of Shaw lasted a single confirmatory question before an immediate release, leaving the cross-examination record essentially uncontested.
Day 21 · Redirect of Richard Shaw
Evidence From Their Proceedings (7)
348 — Plaintiff's Exhibit 348 — video of Depp's island house and c
Plaintiff's Exhibit 348 — video of Depp's island house and closet area
Catalog entry →49 — Plaintiff's Exhibit 49 — video of Depp's island house
Plaintiff's Exhibit 49 — video of Depp's island house
Catalog entry →American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) forensic psychiatry practice g
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) forensic psychiatry practice guidelines (2015)
Catalog entry →American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs 2017 Honolu
American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs 2017 Honolulu resolution
Catalog entry →APA Goldwater Rule (Section 7.3) and its 2017 revision reasserting prohibition o
APA Goldwater Rule (Section 7.3) and its 2017 revision reasserting prohibition on psychiatric opinions without personal evaluation
Catalog entry →Blaustein Deposition Transcript (Reviewed by Shaw)
The deposition transcript of Dr. Alan Blaustein, Depp's psychiatrist, reviewed by plaintiff's expert Dr. Richard Shaw in forming his opinion.
Catalog entry →DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder (9 criteria, 5 r
DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder (9 criteria, 5 required for diagnosis)
Catalog entry →