Tobacco Documents Online

0 ! UPn -08/23 2241 Inaiana;ury sides with tobacco makers Copyright 1996 United Press !nternational. The following news report may not be republished or redistributed, in wno!e or in part, without the prior written consent of Unired Press International. IND!ANAPOLIS, Aug. 23 (UP!) -- A jurv in !ndianapo!is on Friday rejectea a widow's claim that four maior tobacco companies should pay damages for the death of her smoxer nusband. - Yvonne Rogers had sued Phi!io Morris. RJ Reynolds and two other companies in connection with the 1987 death of her husband, Richard Rogers, who smoked for 45 years. -- Richard Rogers was an !ndianapolls attorney. He died of lung cancer. The Marion County jury determined cigarette makers could not be held responsible for the deatn of someone who chose to smoke despite known risks. A trial in the same case lost year ended in a hung jury. The verdict came the same day President Clinton announced a plan to restrict the sale and aavertising of tobacco to minors, a proposal denounced by the industry. _ A Philip Morris offical. Senior Vice President of Litigation Charles R. Wall, called the !naianaoo!is verdict "our most imaortant victory to date dealing with the purporred'addictive' qualities of cigarettesl' - . "This unanimous verd!ct senas a clear signal that there is no legal groundswell in the American court system to reverse 40 years of precedents that people ore responsible for their own actions when it comes to tobacco use," Wall said in a prepared sratement. 0