ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608120034
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
IN 'A SEVERE BLOW TO THE INDUSTRY,' a tobacco company is found liable for a longtime smoker's illness.
A man who got lung cancer after smoking for 44 years was awarded $750,000 Friday, marking only the second time the tobacco industry has been ordered to pay damages in a liability case.
The state Circuit Court jury said the cigarettes were a defective product and that their makers were negligent for not telling people how dangerous they were.
Grady Carter, 66, had asked for at least $1.5million from Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., the maker of Lucky Strikes.
``This is a severe blow to the industry,'' said Allan Kaplan, a tobacco stock analyst with Merrill Lynch. ``We knew that when you keep running cases, some jury is going to vote in favor of the plaintiff.''
Word of the verdict in the closely watched case came shortly before the stock market closed, sending shares of Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco down 13 percent. American Brands, which sold the Lucky Strikes brand to Brown & Williamson in a 1994 deal, was down moderately, as was B.A.T., Brown & Williamson's parent company.
So far, however, in at least 19 tobacco liability suits, the tobacco industry has yet to pay a cent in damages.
The six-member jury deliberated for 91/2 hours over two days. As the verdict was announced, a smiling Carter leaned back and grasped his wife's hand.
``Somebody needed to take these people on,'' he said later. ``A lot of people are dying of lung cancer.''
Thomas Bezanson, an attorney for the tobacco company, said he expects to appeal.
The only other monetary award against a tobacco company in a liability case was won in 1988 by the family of Rose Cipollone of New Jersey. But the $400,000 award was overturned on appeal, and the lawsuit was dropped in 1992.
In a 1990 case, a jury in Mississippi agreed that cigarettes killed longtime smoker Nathan Horton. But it awarded no damages because it found American Tobacco and Horton to be equally at fault.
Carter testified he began smoking Lucky Strikes in 1947 and tried to quit several times, but he would succumb to his cravings and light up again. He kicked the habit after being diagnosed with cancer in 1991.
He had a portion of one lung removed the same year and is apparently free of cancer but is being closely watched by his doctors.
Brown & Williamson had argued that Carter, a retired air traffic controller, was aware of the dangers and continued to smoke because he didn't want to quit.
``He continued smoking Lucky Strikes because he liked them,'' tobacco company attorney Bruce Sheffler said in closing arguments.
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB