Jump to full article: Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch, 2009-05-23
Author: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Intro: Philip Morris USA and other U.S. cigarette makers lost an appeal yesterday to a 2006 landmark ruling that found the nation's top tobacco companies guilty of racketeering and fraud for deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking. . . .
"This is a pretty important decision," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
The significance, he said, is that the panel upheld nearly all of the lower court's decisions.
"They are substantially affirming [the judge's] judgment," Tobias said. "If they believe the judge got it right, I would be somewhat surprised to see the Supreme Court grant an appeal."
But Philip Morris USA and its parent company, Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., said they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
"The court's conclusions are not supported by the law or the evidence presented at trial, and we believe the exceptional importance of these issues justifies further review," Altria attorney Murray Garnick said in a statement. . . .
Edward L. Sweda Jr., a senior attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University, said he was surprised at the unanimous opinion, which included Chief U.S. Circuit Judge David Sentelle, a North Carolina native appointed to the appeals court by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Sentelle had ruled against the government in an earlier appeal in the case.
"This ruling reinforces the validity of [the lower court judge's] ruling in 2006 that the tobacco company defendants are racketeers and their racketeering conduct isn't just a matter of ancient history," Sweda said.
Yesterday's ruling, Sweda said, not only is bad public relations for tobacco companies but it also will be used as ammunition by plaintiff attorneys in smoking-death cases across the country.
"This gives further strong support to those claims," he said.
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