Legal News

Chevron and Berlinger at NY appeals court over 'Crude' outtakes

By Richard Binder

Oral arguments begin today at the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York in Chevron's action to obtain 600 hours of outtakes from Joe Berlinger's documentary film "Crude," a behind-the-scenes look at a class-action lawsuit in Ecuador the energy giant has been fighting for 17 years.  Chevron claims that the outtakes may contain proof of misconduct that ultimately would show the company was denied due process.

Berlinger's film focuses on the suit filed by 30,000 Ecuadorans against Chevron, alleging Texaco (which Chevron later acquired) and others dumped billions of gallons of wastewater several decades ago, poisoning the land, its animals and people. Berlinger follows the lawyers for the plaintiffs as they put the case together, and in some instances display questionable behavior. It's those scenes that were red flags for Chevron, who stand to lose up to $27 billion in damages and cleanup costs.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in Chevron's favor that Berlinger should hand over the outtakes. The order has been stayed pending appeal.

Berlinger's attorneys argued that this material is protected by a journalist's privilege, an argument dismissed by Kaplan, who also said he did not believe Berlinger's "activities as a filmmaker would be unduly burdened" by having to surrender the extra footage. Berlinger, in turn, has said that he fears Chevron's true motivation in obtaining the footage is to discredit the case in general.

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AMPAS has released a statement supporting Berlinger.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on July 14, 2010 (boomark / email).