Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) has uncovered new evidence that Ecuadorian court appointee Richard Cabrera, the so-called “independent expert” claiming that Chevron should pay $27 billion in damages, has had ongoing and surreptitious contacts with plaintiffs’ representatives and that a substantial portion of Cabrera’s court-ordered analysis is based on materials that could only have been provided by the plaintiffs’ representatives outside of the court proceeding. Additional new evidence shows that Cabrera allowed his supposedly independent assistants to work directly with the plaintiffs’ lawyers. Chevron made a filing in Ecuador on Friday informing the court of this new evidence of misconduct.