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Non-Tech : Philip Morris - A Stock For Wealth Or Poverty (MO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Theo Karantsalis who wrote (4057)	6/29/1999 1:01:00 PM
From: Theo Karantsalis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6439

DJ Fla. Smokers Lawsuit Jury Deliberations Begin MIAMI (AP)--As the six-member jury began deliberations in the first class-action lawsuit by smokers to reach trial, seven alternates were shocked to learn they weren't off the hook. Circuit Judge Robert Kaye apologized to the seven for what he called "a little white lie." The judge said he wants the seven alternates to stay connected to the case until their colleagues have determined if Big Tobacco is liable for injuries the plaintiffs blame on cigarette smoking. The seven alternates may still get to deliberate if any of the first six are unable to finish. And if the cigarette makers are found liable, Circuit Judge Robert Kaye intends to return the same group intact for the next phase, in which damages are determined. That could take several more months, and Kaye didn't tell the first six. Kaye had previously said he intentionally kept quiet about a potential second phase to avoid prejudicing the panel. He said he feared that if jurors knew, they might find in favor of the tobacco companies in order to end the trial quickly. "Forgive us for, uh, a little white lie in not telling you about that. I hope you understand that," Kaye told jurors Monday. Upon hearing the news, one alternate juror gasped loudly. Several others needed a moment for the news to sink in. After eight months of testimony, the jury of four men and two women spent more than five hours Monday going over the evidence. Deliberations resumed today. As many as 500,000 sick Floridians are seeking an estimated $200 billion in damages, contending they were misled about the dangers of smoking. The defendants - Philip Morris Cos. (MO), R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. (RJR), British American Tobacco PLC's (BTI) Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Loews Corp.'s (LTR) Lorillard Tobacco Co., and Brooke Group Ltd.'s (BGL) Liggett Group Inc., as well as the Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco Institute - maintained everybody knows the health risks of cigarettes. The smokers are represented by Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt, a husband-and-wife legal team who won a $349 million settlement for flight attendants in a secondhand-smoke case against the same defendants in 1997.