Excerpts from: High court change adds uncertainty to Altria suit
Jump to full article: ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) (us), 2004-11-10
Author: Ameet Sachdev The Chicago Tribune [11/10/04]
Intro: Newly elected Lloyd Karmeier, a Washington County Circuit judge, will not be on the bench for the hearing because he will not be sworn in until Dec. 6. But the case likely will not be decided before he joins the bench. That leaves open the question of whether Karmeier will weigh in on the matter.
If he decides to opt out of the case, Philip Morris would have the burden of winning over four of the five remaining judges to reverse the lower court's ruling. If the company cannot garner four votes, court precedent suggests that the verdict would stand.
Normally Karmeier's absence would leave six justices to decide the matter, but Justice Robert Thomas has chosen not to participate in the case because of a conflict of interest.
Court rules allow sitting justices to participate in all pending cases, said court spokesman Joseph Tybor. A spokesman for Karmeier said the judge has not determined if he will participate in the case, which involves Altria's U.S. tobacco unit, Philip Morris USA. After joining the bench, he plans to discuss pending cases with the other justices and then make up his mind, the spokesman said.
Court observers are betting that Karmeier will not stand aside because of the significance of the case. Karmeier, a Republican, replaces Philip Rarick, a Democrat whose term will expire in December. The court now has four Democrats and three Republicans.
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