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S P E C I A L Tobacco Under Attack

Tobacco industry wins reprieve

tobacco lawsuit graphic March 8, 1998
Web posted at: 9:19 p.m. EST (0219 GMT)

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- The Minnesota Court of Appeals Sunday granted the tobacco industry a reprieve from a lower court's order requiring the industry to turn over 39,000 internal documents.

The appeals court ruling was reported by Michael Ciresi, the lead attorney for Minnesota in its $1.77 billion suit against the tobacco industry.

The industry has until 4:30 p.m. Monday to file a petition stating why it believes Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick erred in ruling that the 39,000 documents should be made available to the state, Ciresi said.

Fitzpatrick had ruled Saturday that the documents should be made available starting Monday morning. He wrote in his order that "it has been determined that defendants have in numerous instances claimed privilege where none is due and blatantly abused the categorization process."

A team of tobacco lawyers in Minneapolis was expected to work late Sunday, said Philip Morris attorney Mike York. "They're not happy."

A temporary victory

The stay is at least a temporary victory for the industry. The tobacco industry has said the internal documents should be kept private because of attorney-client privilege.

But Fitzpatrick, in his ruling, said the privilege was forfeited when he concluded the documents showed evidence "that the communication was made in furtherance of a crime or fraud and was closely related to the fraud."

He specifically cited a Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. report that discussed "the starting behavior of children as young as 5."

Lawyers working for the state have until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to respond to the industry's filing. The court of appeals, a three-judge panel, is expected to rule "in an expedited fashion," Ciresi said.

Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota are suing the tobacco industry for $1.77 billion in costs they say have been spent to treat tobacco-related illnesses.

Defendants include Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and British-American Tobacco Co. Ltd.

Liggett Group Inc. has settled with the state and is a defendant of Blue Cross only.

A court-appointed special master, Mark Gehan, recommended last month that attorneys for Minnesota could use the documents.

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