[Thorrez]

One thing I'm confused about is why he's charged with criminal contempt.

> To Donziger, who had already endured 19 days of depositions and given Chevron large portions of his case file, the request was beyond the pale, and he appealed it on the grounds that it would require him to violate his commitments to his clients. Still, Donziger said he’d turn over the devices if he lost the appeal.

He said he would obey the order if he lost the appeal. But the article doesn't say what happened to the appeal, is it ongoing, is it over, who won?

[Lazare]

This dispute has been going on a long time. Recall, the backstory is that Chevron claimed that Donziger tried to shake them down with a corruptly obtained judgement. They won a judgement against Donziger, but Donziger claims he has no money, so he hasn't paid them. (I mean, fair is fair I guess; Chevron won't pay the judgement Donziger won against them, why should Donziger pay the one they won against him?)

In any case, the criminal contempt is more recent, and stems from Chevron claiming that Donziger has been receiving a lot of money, primarily by selling "shares" in the judgement, ie, a law firm in Canada (or whatever) pays Donziger for the right to sue Chevron in Canada to try and collect. Donziger claimed he had not done so, and the judge in the case ordered him not to start. Chevron claimed he was still doing it (and apparently submitted some evidence to back this up). The the judge ordered Donziger to turn over records to demonstrate how much money he had and, in particular, if he was getting money by monetizing the fraudulent judgement he had obtained against Chevron (which would be against the judge's order).

Donziger has refused to turn over these records, which prompted criminal contempt charges, which he has now been convicted of. He can try appealing, but I'm not entirely sure under what grounds; Donziger's financial records would seem to be fair game (and it's pretty common for a court to ask for such records when someone is failing to pay a judgement against them), so...

[slavik81]

He lost the appeal. From Wikipedia:

> In March 2014, a United States district court judge ruled that the Ecuadorian plaintiff's lead US attorney, Steven Donziger, had used "corrupt means," including payment of almost US$300,000 in bribes, to obtain the 2011 court verdict in Ecuador. The judge did not rule on the underlying issue of environmental damages. While the US ruling does not affect the decision of the court in Ecuador, it has blocked efforts to collect damages from Chevron in US courts.[55][56] Donziger and the two Ecuadorian defendants appealed, and on August 8, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment against them in all respects.

When he turned over the documents, it revealed "that the 2009 environmental report signed by a court-appointed expert had largely been written by an environmental consultancy company hired by the plaintiffs."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lago_Agrio_oil_field

[shkkmo]

I believe you are conflating appeals. The criminal contempt of court is from August 2019, the appeal you cite is from 2016. That wiki article seems to have major quality and sourcing concerns and is not something that I would trust.

[slavik81]

Whoops. You're right. That was about the first time he was required to turn over his computer and the contempt charge is about the second.

Wikipedia is not a great primary source (especially on subjects like this), but that bit comes from this New Yorker article, which seems trustworthy to me: https://newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/09/reversal-of-fortun...

[TomMckenny]

That is a good question. I wonder if maybe no judgement has even been entered, just the contempt ruling.

And if so, could this trick could be used to prevent an appeal and keep him under arrest indefinitely?

IANAL obviously, but very curious.