Chevron Threatened Ecuador Judge With Prison Time If He Failed to Grant Their Motions, Court Papers

[Judi Lynn]

Amazon Defense Coalition: Chevron Threatened Ecuador Judge With Prison Time If He Failed to Grant Their Motions, Court Papers Say
On Eve of Judgment, Chevron Resorting to Intimidation Tactics

LAGO AGRIO, Ecuador, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Chevron's lawyers in Ecuador have threatened the trial judge overseeing the historic environmental trial where the company faces a potential judgment in the billions of dollars, according to court papers made available by the plaintiffs.

In a series of recent legal papers, Chevron lawyers Enrique Carbajal and Alberto Racines threatened trial Judge Nicolas Zambrano with criminal sanctions and prison if he failed to grant their motions asking for a dismissal of the case, which has been on trial since 2003 in the Amazon town of Lago Agrio. The threats were clearly outlined in motions signed by the two lawyers and submitted to the court, said Pablo Fajardo, the Ecuadorian lawyer for the plaintiffs.

"Chevron's threat to the judge is another example of its abuse of the rule of law and its desperation to avoid a judgment," said Fajardo, who represents an estimated 30,000 Ecuadorians who brought the lawsuit.

Judge Zambrano recently sanctioned and fined Racines approximately $1,600 for repeatedly filing the same motions in an effort to delay the Ecuador trial. A third Chevron lawyer in Ecuador – Patricio Campuzano – was sanctioned for the same reason in 2009. Also that same year, Racines exploded in anger at a trial testing site when oil was found at one of Chevron's so-called "remediated" sites.

More:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amazon-defense-coalition-chevron-threatened-ecuador-judge-with-prison-time-if-he-failed-to-grant-their-motions-court-papers-say-115208834.html

[Peace Patriot]

1. I commented in GD...

Comment #11:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x344120

Thanks for posting this! There is nothing uglier (or slippery-er) than one of the oil monster's trying to evade responsibility for their actions and the true costs of their profits.

[social_critic]

2. I hear Chevron put a RICO demand on the lawyers

Looks like Chevron is going on the attack. They filed a RICO complaint against the plaintiff's lawyers in a US court. RICO is the racketeer law. The Chevron lawyers say they got video clips and documents showing the plaintiff's lawyers engaged in racketeering. This is getting really nasty.