Settlement possible in Minnesota tobacco trial

May 5, 1998
Web posted at: 9:18 p.m. EDT (0118 GMT)

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Barring a possible settlement, jury instructions should begin Wednesday in the Minnesota tobacco trial, followed by closing arguments. The case could go to the jury on Friday, although both sides sought Tuesday to get the judge, not jurors, to issue a verdict.

The two sides have discussed a settlement offer of more than $5 billion, but other details, including attorney fees, have held up a final agreement, CNN learned Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III said anticipating a possible settlement is "like waiting for Godot," a reference to the man who never arrives to meet two other men in the Samuel Beckett play.

Brief history of tobacco Text: Tobacco settlement Tobacco company internal documents

Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota are seeking $1.77 billion from the tobacco industry for what they say are costs related to treating smoking-related health problems. They also seek punitive damages. The trial began January 20.

Three other states -- Florida, Texas and Mississippi -- settled similar lawsuits before the cases went to trial. Philip Morris' chief negotiator, Meyer Koplow, has been participating in the Minnesota talks, a source said.

Meanwhile, attorneys on both sides filed motions Tuesday contending that the other side had failed to prove its case, and asking the judge to issue a directed verdict in their favor.

A judge can direct a verdict if he feels the evidence is overwhelming for one side. Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth J. Fitzpatrick took no action on the motions. Motions for directed verdicts are common before a case goes to the jury.

Judge drops one company from lawsuit

Fitzpatrick ordered that British-American Tobacco U.K. & Export Ltd. be dropped from the lawsuit, because the state did not prove that it has jurisdiction over the company. The jury heard little about the firm during 14 weeks of testimony.

"It's a beginning," said British-American Tobacco attorney David Bernick outside the courthouse. Bernick also is representing Brown & Williamson Tobacco and its owner, B.A.T. Industries PLC.

Documents show lawyers had ties to research

Also Tuesday, lawyers on both sides were allowed to enter documents into evidence, and state attorneys said they planned to enter 36 of them.

Many of them indicate that lawyers working for the tobacco industry played key roles in determining what research was done, what was made public, and whether documents detailing the health dangers of cigarettes were destroyed, according to attorney Michael Ciresi, lead attorney for the state.

The first batch of 39,000 documents posted on the Internet last month by U.S. Rep. Tom Bliley, R-Virginia, were accepted by the judge into evidence. But by late afternoon, because of the sheer volume of text, neither the jurors nor reporters covering the trial had studied them.

Though the documents were posted on the Internet, they have been "hidden in plain sight," as one lawyer put it. That's because it is a difficult, time-consuming process to download and scan documents from the Internet.

A court order has kept state attorneys from making public any of the documents, except those that are entered into evidence. Since the tobacco industry has been presenting its case for several weeks, the state has had few opportunities to enter its newly obtained documents.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

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• Tobacco under attack

Message board:

• Tobacco lawsuits

Related stories:

• Big tobacco won't work toward settlement - April 8, 1998
• 5 tobacco firms to withdraw from deal - April 8, 1998
• AllPolitics - Harsh words, strewn chairs and tobacco's lost G.O.P. friends mark a difficult negotiation - April 13, 1998
• AllPolitics - Clinton says it is in tobacco's interest to back McCain bill - April 3, 1998
• Tobacco firms post internal documents on Internet - February 27, 1998

Related sites:

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• Tobacco Resources on the Internet - Northern California Association of Law Libraries
• Major legal cases and court coverage of tobacco lawsuits around the world - HealthWatch.org
• Additional related sites - "Tobacco Under Attack" special section

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