Tobacco.org

• Judge in tobacco case won't be sidelined for hearing 

A judge who oversaw the eight-year legal battle between four tobacco companies and a class of about 500,000 Louisiana smokers should be recused from a hearing on whether defense consultants acted properly in questioning jurors about their $599 million verdict, tobacco company lawyers said.

Thursday, a second judge declined to disqualify retired Civil District Judge Richard Ganucheau, who presided over the legal struggle featuring some of the city's leading defense and plaintiff attorneys.

Civil District Judge Ethel Sims Julien excluded the public Thursday from her courtroom as she considered whether to disqualify Ganucheau.

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