Judge backs jury on tobacco verdict

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1088667365309170.xml

Clearing the way for appeals, a retired judge Wednesday upheld a jury verdict that the nation's four biggest tobacco companies and their public relations arm must pay $591 million for a 10-year program to help more than 500,000 Louisianians quit smoking.

The action makes the decision final. In upholding the verdict, retired Judge Richard Ganucheau also said the tobacco companies must place the amount of the judgment, plus interest, in a court trust until the judgment is paid. Both sides agree that the interest now stands at $300 million or more.

The defendants are expected to ask Ganucheau to reverse his decision or grant a new trial of the eight-year-old Louisiana smokers' class-action lawsuit. The case, which was heard in Civil District Court, was the first in the nation in which a jury has ordered cigarette makers to help smokers kick the habit.

If Ganucheau refuses the defendants' requests, the appeals process will be triggered. Plaintiffs' attorney Ruses Herman hope the appeals can be fast-tracked under a law he said applies to litigants in danger of dying before their cases are concluded.

"We think we fall under that provision," he said, adding that about 6,500 Louisiana residents die each year from diseases caused by smoking.

But Phil Wittmann, who represents R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in the long-running case, called Herman's argument a hollow one: "They've not proven yet that any one person is entitled to (smoking) cessation relief, including the two class representatives who have quit smoking already," he said.

To appeal the verdict, the defendants will have to post a bond set by Ganucheau.

There was disagreement Wednesday about the size of the bond.

According to Wittmann, Louisiana has capped its bond for tobacco liability cases at $50 million. But Herman said no such law was enacted in Louisiana.

Moreover, he said, the smokers' attorneys will ask Ganucheau to fix the appeal bond at 150 percent of the judgment, including interest, as state law gives judges the power to do.

"We want to secure this judgment," Herman said, noting that it is just one of a mounting number that juries around the country have been returning against tobacco companies. "Who knows whether they'll be able to pay eight, ten years from now?"

If the tobacco companies place money in the court trust, they would not have to post an appeal bond, Wittman said.

Wittmann said Herman's concern about other big verdicts against tobacco firms is overblown because those verdicts have, for the most part, been reversed by appellate courts.

"We expect this to receive the same treatment," he said.