
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 16, 1995                   TAG: 9505160107
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS                                LENGTH: Short

APPEAL HOLDS UP CIGARETTE SUIT

A suit accusing cigarette companies of hiding knowledge that nicotine is addictive was put on hold Monday until appeals courts decide whether 50 million smokers are a legal class.

If the court agrees, it would be the first nationwide class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

U.S. District Judge Okla Jones II said he was still convinced that he made the right decision when he ruled in February that smokers and former smokers could all be covered by the lawsuit.

However, he agreed to halt the case until the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules on an appeal by the nation's tobacco giants, including Philip Morris Inc., which has plants in Richmond, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. of Winston-Salem, N.C.

``The system of law is not designed to have one court control the economies and lives of so many in a case of such legal importance,'' the judge wrote Monday.

It could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars just to notify all of the potential class members, not even counting the legal time and expense of arguing the question of class certification, he wrote.

Jones agreed to hear claims including fraud, negligence and punitive damage as a class action, with damage claims to be heard individually.

by CNB