Tobacco company wins big victory in Florida trial

Jury says R.J. Reynolds not responsible for smoker's death

May 5, 1997
Web posted at: 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT)

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida jury decided Monday that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco should not be held responsible for the 1995 cancer death of a three-pack-a-day smoker.

The case, brought by the sister of Jean Connor, was being closely watched by tobacco companies and lawyers who have initiated litigation against the industry.

Some analysts believed a verdict against Reynolds could have opened up the floodgates for other negligence suits against tobacco companies. The company's victory in court may also strengthen its hand in ongoing negotiations to settle smoking-related lawsuits brought by 25 states.

"An American jury, despite the massive amount of publicity which has been generated over the course of the past few months, is still willing to listen to the evidence, to follow the law," said Paul Crist, an attorney for Reynolds, after the verdict was read.

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Angry plaintiff calls tobacco officials 'liars'

Connor was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993 and filed a product liability lawsuit against Reynolds. Her sister, Dana Raulerson, took up the case as a wrongful death action when Connor died.

Raulerson and her attorneys looked stunned as the verdict was read at about 3:25 p.m. EDT. She sat holding a strand of rosary beads as the judge addressed the jury.

In a later interview with CNN, Raulerson said she would urge her attorneys to appeal. She said the plaintiff's side was not able to admit all of the evidence it felt the jury needed to see.

"[Tobacco company officials] are still liars," she said. "They lied in that courtroom, and they walked out of that courtroom and added a few more."

She said her sister "was deceived and led not just into a bad habit, but a habit that ultimately killed her."

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Reynolds official: Risks of tobacco well known

But David Donahue, a senior vice president for Reynolds, said jurors appropriately placed the responsibility for Connor's habit on Connor and not on R.J. Reynolds.

"Jurors understand that the risks of the use of this product have been well known for decades, if not centuries," Donahue said. "But our society has made the policy decision that, against the backdrop of those known risks, these are products which people ought to be allowed the opportunity to purchase."

The Jacksonville jury, after a five-week trial, answered "no" to the following two questions put to it:

that Reynolds' negligence was a legal cause of Connor's death.
that Reynolds' cigarettes were unreasonably dangerous and defective and a legal cause of her death.

The five women and one man on the jury told the judge that they didn't plan to discuss their verdict with the media.

Correspondent Robert Vito and Reuters contributed to this report.