IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Tobacco under attack

July 2, 1999
Web posted at: 3:35 p.m. EDT (1935 GMT)

From Correspondent Susan Candiotti

MIAMI (CNN) -- A Florida jury ended a week of deliberations Friday without a verdict in a landmark class-action civil lawsuit filed on behalf of about 500,000 Florida smokers who claim the tobacco industry is liable for their health problems.

Deliberations, which have dragged on for 32 1/2 hours over five days, will resume Tuesday after a July 4 court holiday.

Attorneys for the smokers and their survivors have sued five tobacco companies and two industry groups, accusing them of concealing the health hazards of smoking through fraud, misrepresentation and conspiracy. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $200 billion in damages.

The tobacco companies deny the allegations, arguing that smokers are responsible for their own actions.

It's the first lawsuit to reach trial brought by a group of individual smokers against the tobacco industry.

The defendants are Philip Morris Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., the Liggett Group Inc. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. Also named in the suit are the now-defunct Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco Institute.

The jury, which is not sequestered, began its deliberations late Monday morning in the trial that began in October.

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