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• R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Pleased with Nunnally Verdict 

A Hernando, Miss., jury today returned a verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT) in the Nunnally case, a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the widow of a smoker. The verdict follows a similar decision by a Brooklyn, N.Y., jury in June. . .

``This jury agreed that this case boiled down to two simple issues,'' said Michael W. Ulmer, lead RJRT counsel for the Nunnally case. ``First, the plaintiff did not offer any evidence that the cigarettes Mr. Nunnally smoked were in any way defective. They offered nothing to the jury to support the notion that there was any feasible, safer alternative cigarette design that would have been used by Mr. Nunnally and that would have prevented his cancer.

``Second, the jurors understood that smokers, including Mr. Nunnally, have long been aware of the well-known and inherent risks of smoking, and that people who choose to smoke in the face of these known risks should not be financially rewarded.''

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First, the plaintiff did not offer any evidence that the cigarettes Mr. Nunnally smoked were in any way defective. They offered nothing to the jury to support the notion that there was any feasible, safer alternative cigarette design that would have been used by Mr. Nunnally and that would have prevented his cancer.
Michael W. Ulmer, lead RJRT counsel for the Nunnally case. <I>R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Pleased with Nunnally Verdict</I>