Two Motions In Chevron's One-Sided Show Trial

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan continues to slide in Chevron's farcical "declaratory judgment" trial currently scheduled for November 14, 2011.

We have provided the copies of two important motions that were filed in the SDNY before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

The motions demonstrate how Judge Kaplan is failing to provide a fair trial which comports with basic notions of due process or fairness. The first motion, filed by the Ecuadorian plaintiffs who recently won an $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron for systematically poisoning Ecuador's Amazon, systematically demonstrates how Judge Kaplan's expedited schedule for the trial is not only "unfair to the Ecuadorian plaintiffs but would also not be consistent with procedures compatible with due process." The motion asks Judge Kaplan to continue the trial so that the Ecuadorian plaintiffs will have a reasonable amount of time to prepare a proper defense to Chevron's baseless allegations.


THE FIRST MOTION.

THE SECOND MOTION


The second motion, filed by lawyers for Steven Donziger, a lawyer who has represented the Ecuadorian plaintiffs for the entire 18-year history of the case and the primary target of Chevron's allegations, asks Kaplan for the third time to let Donziger fully participate in the November trial. The motion argues that Chevron now seeks, with Kaplan's tacit approval, a "do over" of the trial they lost in Ecuador and seeks to make Donziger the principal focus of their trial where, due to Kaplan's decisions, he has no right to defend himself. Today's motion is unambiguous on the impact of Kaplan's rulings to date: "Unless the Court rethinks some of its decisions about who can defend, and how and when that defense should happen, the 'do over' will be a one-sided show trial without any semblance of fairness or due process or concern for the merits."


Contact:

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