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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Allegations in Racketeering Case [07/09-2]
Excerpts from: US judge refuses to toss allegations in tobacco case
Yahoo News [07/08/04]
A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request by tobacco companies to have
government allegations that they manipulated nicotine levels excluded from a
landmark racketeering trial due to start Sept. 13.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said nicotine manipulation was just one component of the government's allegations of an overarching fraud that deceived the public about the dangers of smoking and the addictiveness of nicotine.
Additionally, questions about whether the companies had manipulated nicotine content and if they falsely denied doing so were "disputed factual issues of intent and knowledge that can only be resolved at trial," she said.
Kessler also said that sworn affadavits by tobacco executives, in which they denied manipulating nicotine content, were not immune from liability.
The decision is the latest in a string of defeats for the tobacco industry. On Wednesday, Kessler rejected the industry's argument that a 1998 master tobacco settlement with states shielded them from racketeering charges.
Filed by the Clinton administration in 1999, the suit accuses tobacco companies of deliberately misleading the public about the risks of smoking in a conspiracy going back to the 1950s.
The government is seeking $280 billion in redress.
The claims have been brought against Philip Morris USA and its parent, Altria Group Inc.; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the main unit of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc.; Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group; British American Tobacco Plc's Brown & Williamson Tobacco unit; and Vector Group Ltd.'s Liggett Group.
click here to view the official ruling
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