In Ecuador, lawyers for Amazonian residents seeking damages from the oil giant Chevron have revealed a US resident who secretly recorded the judge in the case is a convicted drug felon. The American, Wayne Hansen, took part in a secretly recorded video that Chevron says proves Judge Juan Nunez has been guilty of judicial corruption. Judge Nunez said the videos were manipulated. The Amazonian residents’ lawyers say Hansen was convicted of drug smuggling from Colombia in 1986 and was later sued successfully by a woman who accused him of attacking her with his two pit bulls. The videos’ release has stalled the case, in which residents are suing Chevron for dumping billions of gallons of toxic oil waste into Ecuador’s rain forest. An independent court-appointed expert has recommended Chevron pay up to $27 billion in compensation.