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• Jury in Mississippi Finds R.J. Reynolds Not Responsible for Death of a Smoker 

Local counsel for RJR, Michael Ulmer, of the Jackson, Miss., firm Watkins & Eager, said DeSoto County jurors accepted his client's argument that individuals are responsible for their choices and assume the risk when they engage in dangerous behavior.

Jack F. Dunbar, an attorney in Oxford, Miss., said DeSoto County is known as a conservative venue. "They're very, very tough jurors" for plaintiffs, he said. . .

Because Mr. Nunnally died before the suit was filed, defense lawyers never had an opportunity to learn when he began smoking Reynolds brands or what, if anything, RJR did to induce him to smoke. As a result, plaintiffs were allowed to present only minimal evidence about alleged company wrongdoing and nothing about its alleged efforts to target young smokers, said plaintiffs attorney Charles Merkel, of the Clarksdale, Miss., firm Merkel & Cocke.

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