Tobacco Documents Online

I'on-J.ril L'HlCAGO 31JNTiM4. 0 ! Widaw.. Nw tobacco so AUG 2 4 1995 Husband picked his poison: jury AssoaAren rssss S company documents linking nico- t3ne end addiction. These records were barred from the Rogers case BY TaoMAS P. W were able to introduce tobacco INDIANAPQLIS-A' jury Fri- day found ci ar tte c not responsible or a smo er's cancer death, a break for the tobacco industry thatt lost a similar lawsuit this month and faces new federal regulations. After 16 hours of deliberations, the state court jury rejected claims from the widow qf Rlah.ard:I?ogers that the companies were to blame for his lifetime of smoking that began at age 5 and ended with his death in 3987 at 52. The suit. which had sought at least $424.000, claimed Rogers wes addicted to cigarettes and. that smoking caused his lung cancer. Tobacco lawyers said Rogers chose to smoke, despite warnings of the potential risks. The Rogers verdict came on a day when President Clinton im- pwed historic limits on' the mar- keting of cigarettes to children, and as the industry wondered whether the .tide of opinion in America's courtrooms has turned againstt it. Cigarelte makers had long boasted they had never paid a cent in health-related suits brought bv smokers. A Florida jury earlier this month awarded $759.000 to a man who got lung cancer after 44 years of smoking. It was only the second time a jury ha: ruled against the industry. The tirst verdict aa: overturned on appeal. In the Florida case, decided Aug. 9 in favor of Crady Carter, lawvers .because it was a retrial and the judge limited evidence to that in- troduced the first time. The earlier trial ended with a mistrial when the jury couldn't decide if Rogers smoked voluntarl- ty. Tobac.co stocks plunged after the verdict and have failed to iecover, something that didn't happen with past legal setbacks. . In closing arguments In the Indi- anapolis courtroom, plaintiffs at- torney. C. Warren Holland told jurors Rogers was addicted to ciga- rettes even hefore the 1964 sur- ~ geon general's warning, and that tobacco companies were aware all ~elong tllat their product was "un- reasonably dangerous." Holland also said the companies should be held responsible for making cigarettes addictive. But. the tobacco companies said ];togershad continued to smoke willingly, and was up to three packs e day. despite a public per- ception of dangers• heightened by the surgeon general's report and then by cigarette warning labels. When asked -shortly before his _death by a tobacco executive why he hadn't stopped smoking earlier. . Rogers had responded, ".I really didn't want to quit." Phili Mo ris Cos. lowyer David ar y to d fn- 73ls. The other companie: invnlved in the lawsuit w•ere- e' ds T~nb co Co., Ameri ' Co., andEF get ro~ Inc. • l