Tobacco Documents Online

. • 0 Fax:3506 Rug 26 '96-T 10:51 P.68 MINNEAPOLIS STAfi TRIBEINE A!B 2 4 iM MV OOPY /1VAi1AM,E Indiana jury finds for tobosoo companies in canc®r deoAh 9Wt ItMOdated Pr... ` Ats • INDIANAPOLIS - A Jury found Friday that ct arett com- {ranies were not r ns e for a smoker's death from cancer. After deliberating 16 hours, the state Jury rejected six•figure claims from the widow of Richard Rogers that the companies were to blame for his amokln addic- lion that began e a d end- iHwirh his death in 1987 at 52. Tobacco lawyers said Rogers those to smoke, despite warnings bf the potential risks. "We were very strong Sn our feeling that personal responsibil- ity Is very lmpartant," said jury foreman David Anderson. "Thls ease is not a case of whether ilgarettes are dangerous." Cigarette makers had long boasted they had never paid a tent in health-related suits brought by smokers. "We seem to db a little better in courtrooms than in newspapers and on tefe- vieton,' Bill Ohlemeyer, an attor• After the verdict, Hardy seid, ney for co-defendant Philip Mor- ~~t'tre re very encouraged. This was ris Cos., said after the verdict. a decieion retlecting the feelings A Florida jury earlier this of ~l the members af the Jury.... month awarded $750,000 to a~re Il take the victory, thank you." man who got lung cancer after 44 Yvonne Rogers and her attor- years of smoking. It was only the neya left the courtroom without second time a jury has ruled commenung. against the Induatry; the first ver- The other companies Involved i h i n t e awsuit were .J. Rt dict was overturned an appeal. T b o acco Co., a unit In closing arguments of the fndlanapolia lawsuit, whlch co o ngs CQ.; American sought at least 5424,000 in dam-- ages, plaintiff's attorney C. War• ren Holland told jurore Rogers was addicted to cigarettes even before the 1964 Surgeon Gener- al's warntng, and that tobacco companies were aware all along that their product was "unrea- sonably dangerous.- Holland also said the compa- nies should be held responathi= for making cigarettes addictr "This is not just a hablt." But the tobacco como:.:; said Rogers had continuee smoke willingly, and was up to I ttuee packs a daq, despite a pub - lfc perception of dangers height- ened by the Surgeon General'a report . and then by cigarette warning labels. When a ~tobe5~q executive utked Rogers anorty before'his death why he hadn't stopped smoking earlier, Rogers had re- sponded, 'I reelly didn't t to ~r:' p~ becco Co., owned by R.A.T. In- dustries PLC; and Liggett Group Inc. of Brooke Group PLC. In the Florida case thet went in favor of Grady Caner on Aug. 9, lawyers were able to antroduce tobacco company documents llnking nicotine attd .,ddlct{Qn, but these records wese barred from the Rogers case because It was a retrial and the judge limit- _d evidence to that introduced .y the first time. The earlier ended with a mistrial whe jury couldn't decide lf ft smoked voluntarily. Before the PlorIda case, la being appealed, the onl damage award returrued , tobacco makers, f400, fsrnfly of Rose Cipollone-o leraey in 1988, was overt appeal. The lawsuit was dropped.