Newspaper to receive lawyers' documents
Jump to full article: New Orleans (LA) Times Picayune, 2004-07-10
Author: Susan Finch / Staff writer
Intro: The judge in the Civil District Court trial that yielded a $591 million jury verdict against the nation's biggest tobacco companies agreed Friday to grant The Times-Picayune's request for access to documents that were filed under seal.
Judge Richard Ganucheau ordered that lawyers must promptly hand over documents that the newspaper requests in writing. The judge also opened the way for the newspaper to obtain transcripts of hearings about the documents.
None of those documents were available by Friday evening.
But other documents filed in the case provide new insights into why tobacco lawyers are seeking to recuse Ganucheau from a portion of the case. The tobacco lawyers sought to have Ganucheau removed from presiding in a hearing to determine whether tobacco jury consultants acted improperly in questioning jurors after their May 21 verdict. The hearing was requested after Gauncheau had ordered the consultants to stop. The motion to recuse Ganucheau was denied by another judge, Ethel Simms Julien.
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