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RJ Reynolds, Philip Morris win Calif. smoking suit 

A federal court judge in California on Tuesday entered a directed verdict in favor of the top two U.S. cigarette makers in a smoking suit, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RJR) said.

The suit, known as Conley, was an individual smoking and health suit heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

In the trial, plaintiffs Elaine Conley, Weldon White and Dorothy White sought damages for the death of their father and husband, Frank Robert White, who died in 1999 at the age of 81, Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based R.J. Reynolds said in a statement. . .

After the plaintiffs rested their case, Judge Saundra Armstrong entered a verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris "because the plaintiffs failed to produce sufficient evidence to support their claims that the companies were responsible for the death of Frank White," R.J. Reynolds said in its statement.

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