Today is Tuesday, August 11th, 2020.

On this day in 1994, a U.S. federal jury awarded nearly $187 million to Alaskan commercial fishermen for the losses

they sustained as a result of the devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Today we're covering the 1994 court case that pitted 10,000 Alaskan

fishermen against the mighty oil company Exxon.

The fishermen claimed damages for the 11 million gallons of crude oil that Exxon's

tanker spilled into Alaskan waters.

And after five weeks of deliberation,

the jury finally came to a verdict.

Let's go back to the hearing in Anchorage, Alaska on August 11, 1994. 44 year old

old Corey Blake, a herring fisherman, scrambled to find a seat in the packed federal courtroom

in Anchorage, Alaska. As the judge banged his wood. the and many of Corey's fellow Alaskan fishermen.

The jury had finished deliberating.

Corey and the other fishermen could barely control their excitement.

They had waited for this moment for almost five years since the Exxon Valdez

oil tanker had run aground in Prince William Sound, dumping 11 million gallons of crude oil on the coast,

destroying their jobs and livelihoods.

As the judge tried to bring the courtroom to order,

Corey noticed the attorneys for Exxon saunter in late, wearing their expensive suits.

They whispered to each other in disdain for the blue collar fishermen.

Cori's hands, scarred and calloused from years of working on fishing nets, clenched

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