Story here
Kerr-McGee has a number of wells on federal lands that they are supposed to pay a royalty to have. They don't.
It was called a "reorganization." However, the only one affected by this was Maxwell.
In the trial itself, Kerr-McGee's lawyers ducked the issue of not having paid the fees, but instead focused on how Maxwell would gain a small percentage of this if he won. They used numerous stall tactics and doubletalk. The jury took a total of two hours to find Kerr-McGee guilty. Kerr-McGee was fined $30 million ($10 million in back money owed plus $20 million in punative damages for knowingly doing this.) However, about two weeks later, the judge in the case, already working on another one, magically overruled the jury and found Kerr-McGee innocent. (Can you say coercion?) An appeal has been filed, along with a lawsuit under the whistleblower's protection act for Maxwell.
It's a crying shame that people think they can get away with anything just as long as they have the right connections. >_<