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| S P E C I A L | Tobacco Under Attack |
Judge sets ground rules as tobacco trial begins
January 26, 1998
Web posted at: 11:44 a.m. EST (1644 GMT)In this story:
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Opening statements began Monday in Minnesota's lawsuit against the tobacco industry. The state and an insurance company -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota -- seek to recover an estimated $1.77 billion spent to treat smoking-related illnesses.
They also want punitive damages and if tobacco companies lose, the judge says they could be forced to turn over the profits they made in Minnesota.
Minnesota's is the first of 40 state lawsuits against the cigarette makers to make it as far as opening statements.
A major obstacle to an out-of-court settlement -- as Mississippi, Florida and Texas already have done -- is Minnesota's insistence on the release of all internal tobacco industry documents.
Pre-trial rulings
In a flurry of rulings on Sunday, Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick denied cigarette makers' request that the state be barred from seeking their profits if they are found guilty of fraud. The state's allegations cover the time period of 1978-96.
The Minnesota Deceptive Trade Practices Act allows the state to recover profits made from illegal activities. How much profit the companies make from the sale of tobacco products is one of the industry's most guarded secrets.
But Fitzpatrick also ruled that tobacco lawyers can argue that Blue Cross could have offset the costs by charging smokers a higher premium for health insurance. He also said defense attorneys can use the state's collection of cigarette taxes to show that the state has profited from the sale of tobacco.
Fitzpatrick warned, however, that he will not allow tobacco lawyers to argue that cigarette taxes should be used to offset any final judgment if the tobacco companies lose.
The jury is set to begin hearing opening statements Monday Jury dispute ruling
Lawyers for the cigarette makers Friday asked Fitzpatrick to throw out the pool of 24 candidates from which the final jurors were selected and start over. They claimed he made legal mistakes and unfair decisions during the selection process that resulted in a pool biased against the industry.
But Fitzpatrick on Monday denied the tobacco industry's request and opening statements proceeded with the previously chosen jurors.
Several of the pool members expressed anti-tobacco sentiments during questioning, and nine of the final 12 jurors -- six men and six women -- said smoking is addictive.
Minnesota Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III and Blue Cross President Andrew Czajkowski issued a statement saying the process was appropriate and that the jury -- with three smokers, two nonsmokers and seven former smokers -- was "fair and impartial."
Humphrey says he can prove the tobacco industry misrepresented the dangers of smoking and targeted adolescents, and that he won't settle easily.
"Number one, we want the full truth out," he told CNN in a pre-trial interview. "Number two, we want them to stop -- an ironclad prohibition on selling their products to kids. And number three, I want to absolutely see that payments are made commensurate with the harm they have caused in our state."
Sources on both sides of the Minnesota case say the incentive for the tobacco industry to settle diminishes as the prospects for a national agreement wane.
They believe the president will be too preoccupied with his political problems to focus on pushing such a deal through Congress. As result, they predict, this case may become the first to be decided by a jury.
While the trial is being heard by a state jury, it's being held at the federal courthouse in St. Paul because of all the attorneys, media representatives and observers who want seats.
The defendants in the case are Philip Morris Inc.; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.; B.A.T. Industries PLC; British-American Tobacco Co. Ltd.; BAT (U.K. & Export) Ltd.; Lorillard Tobacco Co.; The American Tobacco Co., now part of Brown & Williamson; Liggett Group Inc., which is a defendant of Blue Cross only; The Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A. Inc. and The Tobacco Institute Inc.
Reporter Tom Watkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Related stories:
- Clinton chides tobacco manufacturers for marketing to kids - January 17, 1998
- Texas, tobacco giants settle lawsuit, avoid trial - January 16, 1998
- Clinton to recommend sharing tobacco money with states - January 12, 1998
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