Chevron Became Terrified of Its Own Witnesses During Retaliatory RICO Trial

Looking back on Chevron’s retaliatory RICO trial, it is clear that the oil company’s lawyers were so terrified of some of their own witnesses that they literally ordered them to stay away from court.Remember Douglas Beltman and Ann Maest, the scientific consultants for the rainforest indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador that were devastated...

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Prominent Organizations Release Open Letter Condemning Chevron's Tactics in Ecuador Case

Today, Amazon Watch—longtime advocates for the Ecuadorian indigenous and farmer communities affected by Chevron's toxic legacy—released a letter from a dozen prominent human rights and environmental organizations condemning Chevron's abusive tactics related to the Lago Agrio litigation. In addition to decrying the abusive nature of Chevron's scorched...

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After the Smoke Clears: What Chevron’s RICO Trial Means, With Hindsight

Now that the evidentiary phase of Chevron’s retaliatory RICO bench trial against New York human rights lawyer Steven Donziger and his Ecuadorian clients is over, we can take a deep breath and analyze what really happened before the controversial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.  The answer is not much, other than one of the greatest abuses of the American...

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You Get What You Pay for (Perjury, in This Case)

Yesterday, the Huffington Post picked up a post originally published on Amazon Watch's Eye on the Amazon blog, written by Paul Paz y Miño, who spent a few weeks in Judge Kaplan's courtroom following Chevron's retaliatory...

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Amazon Watch: The Truth Has No Place in Kaplan's Court

Originally posted to Eye on the Amazon, by Amazon Watch's Paul Paz y Miño, published Nov. 26th: You likely already know that Chevron (as Texaco) admitted to deliberately dumping close to 18 billion gallons of toxic...

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Human Rights Lawyer's Testimony Censored by US Court

Today, representatives of lawyer Steven Donziger and the Ecuadorean communities ravaged by Chevron contamination issued a press release highlighting the significant passages of Donziger's testimony struck from the record by Judge Lewis Kaplan. From the release: Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, overseeing Chevron’s RICO trial against Ecuadorian villagers and...

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“They are trying to destroy my life”: Chevron’s legal war on its harshest critic

Editor of the Earth Island Journal Jason Mark wrote a story that first appeared in the magazine, and has now been syndicated by Salon. In the article, Mark goes beyond the basic reporting on the back-and-forth of the Chevron v. Donziger trial to explore the broader implications of the oil giant's retaliatory efforts. First he quotes Donziger's former...

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Donziger & Ecuadorians File Motion to Strike Testimony of Chevron's Well-Paid Witness

Today, the legal team for Steven Donziger and the Ecuadorians targeted by Chevron's retaliatory RICO suit filed a motion—filled with devastating detail—to strike the testimony of the oil giant's star witness. That star witness, disgraced former Ecuadorian Judge Alberto Guerra, testified during the RICO trial last week that representatives...

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Letter to the Court: Donziger Expresses Fair Trial Concerns to Judge Kaplan

In an October 23rd letter to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, Steven Donziger writes: “I write to record objections to certain procedures being used that I believe are interfering with my ability to mount a defense and violating my fundamental right to a fair trial.” Steven’s letter goes on to enumerate in detail issues in the proceedings currently underway,...

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Corporate Rights or Human Rights?

Katie Redford at Earth Rights International posted a blog here,  writing eloquently on the privilege to "speak" and limit activism that corporations are enjoying, as the rights of human beings to hold those corporations...

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