-i- TO THE SUBROGATE PRESIDENT OF THE ... - Chevron

had previously been investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office, and two different
prosecutors general had recommended that the charges be dismissed. In addition, the
State had abandoned the same fraud allegation in related civil litigation in the Federal
Court for the Southern District of New York after having had the opportunity for
discovery. Nonetheless, President Correa publicly called for the prosecution of those
involved in the State’s settlement, and charges were thereafter brought by his new
Prosecutor General, Dr. Washington Pesántez, who had previously rejected the fraud
allegation in his capacity as District Prosecutor of Pichincha. It is thus clear that the
prosecution has no basis in fact or law, but rather was intended to fulfill the
Government’s part in its scheme with the plaintiffs’ representatives. As the U.S. State
Department has repeatedly warned, “[c]riminal complaints and arrest warrants against
foreign company officials have been used [in Ecuador] to pressure companies involved
in commercial disputes.” That admonition has particular force given that the Prosecutor
General has publicly stated that ninety percent of any judgment would go directly to the
Ecuadorian Government.
Evidence submitted by my client further demonstrates that any judgment in this
case would be the result of concerted pressure tactics on the Court, planned and
executed by the plaintiffs and their representatives. As the plaintiffs’ lawyer put it in one
of the Crude outtakes, “the only language that . . . this judge is gonna understand is one
of pressure, intimidation, and humiliation.” A decision based on external pressure,
rather than the law and the facts, violates basic principles of due process.
In sum, the evolving and ad hoc procedures adopted by this Court denied my
client due process and manifested a rush to a preordained judgment against Chevron.
From failing to promptly rule on Chevron’s dispositive defenses, to unlawfully alleviating
the plaintiffs of their burden of proof by improperly relinquishing the judicial inspections
that were requested and ordered, to ignoring, concealing, and absolving plaintiffs’ fraud,
to (twice) prematurely ordering autos para sentencia, this Court has denied Chevron its
due process rights. It is clear that this trial has been irremediably tainted by immense
political pressure resulting from the improper influence exerted by the Government in
this regard.
IV.
Systematic Constitutional Violations and Substantial Procedural Defects
Render These Proceedings a Legal Nullity
For many reasons discussed above, as well as others, this Court must declare
the entirety of these proceedings a legal nullity. Any judgment issued by this Court
under these circumstances would be null and void.
Above all, this case is a nullity the constitutional guarantee of due process has
been repeatedly violated and because substantial solemnities required in all
proceedings have been omitted. As discussed throughout this brief, Chevron’s rights
were violated by, among other things, this Court’s refusal to investigate and sanction
plaintiffs’ fraud; by the unlawful appointment of Mr. Cabrera; by the denial of the right to
initiate essential error summary proceedings; and by the failure to annul the rulings
issued by former Judge Yánez regarding the appointment of Mr. Cabrera and the failure
CERT. INTERMARK VER: JD
- 11 -