Judge Who Issued $18.2 Billion Ruling against Chevron Removed from Bench
Reuters - Chevron Press Release - March 8, 2012
Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.
Ecuador’s Judicial Council determines Judge Zambrano complicit in drug trafficking scandal
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) today renewed its request of authorities in Ecuador to investigate the overwhelming evidence of fraud tainting the Lago Agrio lawsuit after the Associated Press and Ecuador’s El Universo newspaper revealed that Nicolás Zambrano, the judge who issued the $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron, has been dismissed from the bench due to his complicity in an emerging story of court corruption and drug trafficking in Ecuador.
The media outlets reported that the Judicial Council, the body that governs the Ecuadorian judiciary, has determined that Judge Zambrano, and Judge Leonardo Ordóñez, who previously presided over the Lago Agrio lawsuit, should be dismissed from their positions on the Court of Justice of Sucumbíos in Lago Agrio following an investigation into allegations of lenient treatment of drug dealers in cases before them. The investigation and subsequent dismissals followed a complaint filed by Ecuador’s Organized Crime Prevention Unit.
“Chevron has already shown through the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ own documents and film outtakes that Judge Zambrano’s ruling against Chevron was ghostwritten by the plaintiffs’ lawyers. Evidence also shows that the plaintiffs’ representatives paid bribes to at least one court official through a secret bank account. Now it appears the Sucumbíos court was plagued by even broader corruption,” said Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and general counsel. “Hopefully now that these judges have been removed from their positions of power, others will come forward with evidence of the wrongdoing that has occurred in the courtrooms.”
Through court-ordered discovery, Chevron has obtained evidence that the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ lawyers and consultants, at a minimum, provided clandestine assistance to the Lago Agrio court in drafting the judgment against Chevron. Much of the judgment tracks the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ own internal, unfiled documents word-for-word, citing figures from the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ internal database that did not form part of the record, as well as copying errors and idiosyncratic reference citations.
The ghostwriting of judgments in Ecuador is not unique to the Lago Agrio case. As has been widely reported, the El Universo newspaper suffered similar treatment in an equally-politicized trial featuring evidence that the ultimate judgment was written by lawyers working for the plaintiff, in this instance President Rafael Correa. The handling of the El Universo case was, in the words of the Washington Post, “alas, worthy of a banana republic. After four changes of judge, a ‘temporary’ magistrate took over the case, held one hearing, and—33 hours after his appointment—issued the 156-page ruling. A subsequent independent investigation determined that he did not write it, and that the author was probably Mr. Correa’s attorney.”
Other independent organizations have noted the steep decline in the capability of the Ecuadorian judiciary to administer impartial justice. Since Correa’s election, the U.S. State Department has reported on “the susceptibility of the judiciary to bribes for favorable decisions and resolution of legal cases and on judges parceling out cases to outside lawyers, who wrote the judicial sentences and sent them back to the presiding judge for signature.” Other organizations have reached similar conclusions, finding that Ecuador ranks near the bottom of all nations for “rule of law” and similar measures.
Chevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com. Chevron Corporation - Kent Robertson, +1-925-790-3819
Oh, so they don't like corrupt judges in foreign companies, but corrupt judges inside the U.S. are fine. You know, the judges and their friends who they take care of... under the 'rules' of course....
ReplyDeleteThe same happens in the US, but we have judicial immunity, as the judges circle the wagons.
ReplyDeleteFunny how they don't like it much when they become the victims of a corrupt judicial system.
ReplyDeleteYet, here in the US where they are the ones buying 'justice', they not only have no problem with it, they hold it up as a model.
Just like MLK said, "Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere"
Truer words were never spoken.
Another example of the corrupt NYS courts. Apparently, no one is safe.
ReplyDelete'Justice's ruling in Howard Stern case is one that could hit home with anybody'
'When a Supreme Court justice , you knew immediately how one part of the public would react.'
Supreme Court Judge Barbara Kapnick last week ruled that Sirius XM does not owe Howard Stern $300 million that his understanding was wrong and the contract did not base his payment on total subscribers.
She dismissed the suit. Stern said he will appeal, and that's where it stands, legally.
"Most money transactions involve someone with more power - like a corporation or the government - and someone with less, like a worker or a subject.
If the party with greater power can unilaterally ignore the deal, which most of us at some point have seen happen, it's no deal at all."
He's fortunate that he has the finances to appeal, but the companies have more money. What he doesn't understand is that it doesn't make any difference if he is right, even if he had video tape of them agreeing, the judges are going to do whatever is in their best interests, and most likely it won't be to rule in his favor. He's just one person, there are companies with a lot of money and a lot of favors they can provide to get the justice they want.
Maybe someone can give Howard a clue as to what is really going on. He clearly is under the mistaken impression that the legal system is a place where he is going to get justice. It really just a legal system to extract as much money from victims as possible, and leave them broke and broken.