U.S. National - AP
Jury Sides With Cigarette Maker in Suit
ST. LOUIS - A jury ruled that a tobacco company was not responsible for the death of a 53-year-old woman who developed lung cancer after four decades of smoking.
The jury rejected claims by the woman's daughters Thursday that Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. did not provide their mother, Stella Hale, with adequate warnings of the risks of smoking.
Hale, who died in August 2001, smoked Brown & Williamson's Kool cigarettes for about 40 years, according to the suit.
The company, which merged with R.J. Reynolds in July to form the nation's second-largest tobacco company, said that Hale knew the potential health risks of smoking and chose to smoke anyway.
Jeff Raborn, lawyer for the newly named Reynolds Tobacco Co., said the ruling "underscores the strength of our defenses in these individual cases."
Douglas Dowd, who represented Hale's daughters, said the case was tough to prove because Hale was not alive to testify.
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Finally the jury decides for the cigarette markers. I mean the cigarette company didn't get the person to smoke.
Jury Sides With Cigarette Maker in Suit
ST. LOUIS - A jury ruled that a tobacco company was not responsible for the death of a 53-year-old woman who developed lung cancer after four decades of smoking.
The jury rejected claims by the woman's daughters Thursday that Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. did not provide their mother, Stella Hale, with adequate warnings of the risks of smoking.
Hale, who died in August 2001, smoked Brown & Williamson's Kool cigarettes for about 40 years, according to the suit.
The company, which merged with R.J. Reynolds in July to form the nation's second-largest tobacco company, said that Hale knew the potential health risks of smoking and chose to smoke anyway.
Jeff Raborn, lawyer for the newly named Reynolds Tobacco Co., said the ruling "underscores the strength of our defenses in these individual cases."
Douglas Dowd, who represented Hale's daughters, said the case was tough to prove because Hale was not alive to testify.
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Finally the jury decides for the cigarette markers. I mean the cigarette company didn't get the person to smoke.
