Caso Chevron

2nd Circuit rules Donziger's home confinement, well into second year, must continue

A federal appeals court on Monday affirmed a lower court ruling that says embattled attorney Steven Donziger must continue his home confinement to ensure he appears at a criminal contempt trial arising from his battles against Chevron Corp over pollution in the Ecuadorian rainforest.

Reuters 30/03/2021

2nd Circuit rules Donziger's home confinement, well into second year, must continue

2nd Circuit rules Donziger's home confinement, well into second year, must continue

A federal appeals court on Monday affirmed a lower court ruling that says embattled attorney Steven Donziger must continue his home confinement to ensure he appears at a criminal contempt trial arising from his battles against Chevron Corp over pollution in the Ecuadorian rainforest.

A panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a summary order denied the American lawyer's bid to loosen his pretrial release conditions, including his home confinement which currently stands at about 20 months, in the high-profile criminal contempt case, of which the trial has repeatedly been postponed. The panel said it largely deferred to the conclusion of the lower court that Donziger's release conditions were "the least restrictive necessary ... in light of a risk of flight" to ensure he appears at his May 10 trial in Manhattan federal court.

Donziger's attorney in the appellate case, Scott Badenoch, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A lawyer representing him in the lower court case, Ron Kuby, said it was "unfortunate ... the 2nd Circuit did not call Donziger's home detention for what it is – an unjustified, bad-faith effort to keep a prominent human rights lawyer and activist under house arrest."

The prosecution, represented by lead attorney Rita Glavin and by Seward & Kissel, did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Glavin left Seward & Kissel in recent weeks to form law firm Glavin.

Donziger faces six counts of criminal contempt, including for failing to timely undergo a forensic inspection of his electronic devices and to surrender his passport.

The criminal case springs from post-judgment orders in a civil case in which a district judge in 2014 barred enforcement in the United States of a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron which Donziger had won in an Ecuador court. The judge found the judgment had been obtained through fraud.

Donziger argued to the 2nd Circuit that he should be released or his pretrial release conditions relaxed because he is unlikely to jump bail, which is a felony, to avoid the maximum sentence of six months behind bars that his contempt charges carry. The panel on Monday said the argument "gives us some pause."

Should the trial be further delayed other than by Donziger himself, the panel said a re-evaluation of his home confinement "may" be warranted so as to remain within "the bounds of reasonableness."

When Donziger appears for trial in May, he will have spent about 21 months confined at home, said the panel of Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Barrington Parker as well as U.S. Circuit Judges Gerard Lynch and Joseph Bianco.

His period of home confinement has been prolonged by repeated postponements of his trial, initially scheduled for June 15, 2020.

In January, a district judge in Manhattan federal court said she was reluctantly postponing it for the fifth time after the court suspended in-person operations.

The trial was also been postponed twice after Donziger's lawyers refused to travel to New York out of concerns over contracting COVID-19 and refusing to participate by video. It has also been once postponed because Donziger's lead attorney, who sued him for nonpayment, said he could not represent him, and on another occasion because a new lawyer was set to join his legal team.

The case is United States v. Donziger, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:19-cr-00561.

For United States: Rita Glavin and Sareen Armani of Glavin and Brian Maloney of Seward & Kissel

For Donziger: Scott Badenoch

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