March 29, 2024

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Equality opinion

In closing short, disbarred environmental attorney promises his prosecution is ‘run by an oil company’

Trials & Litigation

In closing short, disbarred environmental lawyer statements his prosecution is ‘run by an oil company’

Chevron

Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California. Photograph by Todd A. Merport/Shutterstock.

A closing brief submitted on behalf of disbarred environmental attorney Steven Donziger contends that the criminal contempt case against him “has all the trappings of a deeply troubled and conflicted prosecution run by an oil enterprise.”

Donziger’s proposed results ended up filed June 9 pursuing a 5-working day bench trial previous thirty day period. They seek dismissal of 6 prices based mostly on alleged bias by unique prosecutors and U.S. District Choose Loretta A. Preska of the Southern District of New York, who is presiding, Legislation360 reports.

Donziger is accused of stonewalling Chevron’s attempts to acquire a judgment towards him in a civil RICO circumstance soon after a judge established that he received a fraudulent $8.6 billion judgment in Ecuador in opposition to the oil corporation. He is also accused of violating discovery orders, including that he must allow for imaging of his digital units.

The federal decide who ruled against Donziger in Chevron’s RICO scenario, Decide Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York, had blocked enforcement of the Ecuadorian judgment and awarded Chevron $800,000 on the RICO assert. He appointed Rita Glavin to be a special prosecutor in the legal contempt case right after the U.S. attorney’s place of work declined the prosecution, according to Regulation360’s coverage of the closing briefs.

Glavin was formerly a law firm with Seward & Kissel, which is also aiding the prosecution. The regulation organization has an oil and gas follow and has “extensive one-way links to quite a few Chevron-related entities,” Donziger’s quick says.

“This appears to be the nation’s very first corporate prosecution offered that the oil organization (Chevron) against whom Mr. Donziger received a large air pollution judgment in Ecuador is a shopper of the extremely regulation agency (Seward & Kissel) now prosecuting him,” the temporary claims.

Donziger also claimed that lawyers from Chevron’s regulation firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher experienced assisted Seward & Kissel, together with lawyers who weren’t served with a demo subpoena.

Donziger has been held beneath pretrial dwelling arrest for more than 670 days.

“The only realistic summary is that this detention questioned for by the Chevron-linked non-public prosecutor is in and of by itself punishment,” the quick states.

In the prosecution’s proposed results of reality, Glavin and her co-counsel argue that the six counts towards Donziger have been tested further than a acceptable doubt simply because Donziger experienced willfully and knowingly disobeyed court orders. Glavin claimed Donziger had:

• Skipped a deadline to present a checklist of his digital gadgets and accounts.

• Unsuccessful to surrender his digital gadgets for imaging.

• Refused to surrender his passport.

• Refused to absolutely and timely transfer to Chevron his contingent fee interests in the Chevron judgment.

• Contravened a court docket order when he experimented with to monetize his curiosity in the Chevron judgment by pledging a portion of his contingency fascination to an executive mentor as compensation for individual solutions.

Preska experienced turned down Donziger’s motion to disqualify herself and each and every other decide on the federal bench in Manhattan, New York, in a May possibly 2020 get. Preska also denied a movement to disqualify the appointed unique prosecutors.

“Seward’s prior operate for Chevron—completing company sorts and feeling letters for Chevron’s international affiliates—has completely practically nothing to do with this case,” Preska wrote.

Preska also refused to dismiss the legal contempt prices from Donziger in advance of the demo, Reuters claimed previous month.