Plaintiffs fill courtroom for Exxon leak trial

Balto. Co. residents seeking $1 billion for gasoline spill

"Exxon should have done the right thing, but unfortunately they took that option away," said Snyder, whose presentation took up the entire day's court session. The lead counsel for the defense, James F. Sanders, who lives in Nashville, Tenn., is to begin his opening statement today.

Yesterday's session had moments of levity, particularly when Snyder, who favors a theatrical style, sought to make the jurors comfortable with the notion of spending between three and five months listening to a trial consumed with the intricacies of mechanisms for detecting leaks and the effects of gasoline compounds on human health.

Snyder, whose offices are in Pikesville, asked an assistant to display on a large screen an image of a faux Halloween card for the jurors. The card suggested that, when asked for their choice of Halloween costume this year, they should tell people that "you're dressed as a juror." A Christmas card described jury duty as "a gift actually worse than fruitcake."

Turning serious, Snyder asserted that Exxon Mobil had known for at least seven years before the incident that the electronic leak detectors it used were prone to failure but that the company nevertheless failed to replace them in a timely manner.

"Exxon's own documents showed that their failure could cause an emergency," Snyder said. The kind of detector Exxon used at the Jacksonville station, he went on, "was a lemon, and they knew it."

"Taking on Exxon is no easy task," Snyder said, describing the "scorched-earth litigation" he intended to pursue to try to win the case. "We're going to have to fight for every point in this trial. I was not hired to be a pussycat. I was hired to be a bulldog."