Plaintiffs’ attorney Steven Donziger took the witness stand Monday to defend his testimony that a $9.5 billion environmental award against Chevron in Ecuador was legitimate. Facing allegations of racketeering and fraud in what Chevron claims to have been a long-running scheme to corrupt the judiciary in Ecuador and shakedown the oil company, Donziger submitted direct testimony in writing Sunday to Southern District Judge Lewis Kaplan and then took the witness stand Monday for cross examination by Chevron lawyer Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Mastro began his cross by pressing Donziger to admit that he had control over litigation strategy and day-to-day management of legal proceedings in Ecuador and in several actions in the United States.
Donziger’s written submission states that Chevron’s predecessor oil company in Ecuador, Texaco, “deliberately discharged billions of gallons of toxic waste into Ecuador’s rain forest.” Chevron claims that a cleanup settlement signed by Texaco before Chevron purchased the company absolved it of liability. During the bench trial before Kaplan that began on Oct. 15, Chevron presented as a witness a judge, Alberto Guerra, who claimed he was paid by another judge, Nicholas Zambrano, to ghost write court orders and fine tune the Chevron judgment—and that Zambrano was in the pay of the Donziger team. Zambrano, however, testified for Donziger that Guerra was lying. Donziger was supported during yesterday’s testimony by Sting and his wife and fellow environmental activist Trudie Styler. Donziger is expected back on the witness stand today.
