IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Tobacco under attack

June 29, 1999
Web posted at: 6:02 p.m. EDT (2202 GMT)

By Correspondent Susan Candiotti

MIAMI (CNN) -- "We need a break. We're stuck."

Those were the words of one juror Tuesday at the end of the second day of deliberations in a precedent-setting civil trial that could cost the tobacco industry billions of dollars.

The comment prompted some chuckles from the jury of two women and four men after the judge asked if they wanted to continue working past 5 p.m.

The jurors met for 7 1/2 hours behind closed doors Tuesday without reaching a verdict following a session that lasted 4 1/2 hours Monday in the first class-action lawsuit by smokers to reach trial.

At issue is whether five tobacco industry giants are liable for making an estimated 500,000 Florida smokers sick. There are nine plaintiffs named in the lawsuit; they represent the entire class of smokers or their survivors.

The plaintiffs' lawyers say they hope to recover at least $200 billion by establishing that the tobacco companies committed fraud by misrepresenting and conspiring to conceal the health hazards of smoking.

If the attorneys win the liability phase of the trial, jurors will consider compensatory and punitive damages.

The defendants maintain that smokers have long been aware of the potential risks of smoking and willingly assume them, and the companies deny manipulating nicotine levels to keep smokers hooked, as alleged in the lawsuit.

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

A gag order prohibits all parties from discussing the case. Lawyers representing the tobacco companies have filed a motion asking that the gag order be lifted, if they lose any portion of the liability case.

Dade Circuit Judge Robert Kaye has not ruled on that motion, nor on another defense motion asking for a mistrial. Opening statements in the trial began October 19.

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