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R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Wins Secondhand Smoke Suit 

``After hearing all the facts in this case, the six-member jury unanimously agreed that nothing the tobacco companies did had any impact on the illnesses that Marie Fontana claims to have,'' said Daniel W. Donahue, senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Reynolds Tobacco.

``This verdict is a victory for scientific evidence and should put plaintiffs' attorneys on notice that these types of contrived lawsuits do not pass muster with the public.'' . .

``This case should never have gone to trial,'' Donahue said. ``Because of an order issued by Circuit Court Judge Robert Kaye last October, Reynolds Tobacco and the other defendants in this case were improperly prevented from presenting most of the evidence that is typically presented in product liability cases, and which should have been allowed in this case.

``Even so,'' he said, ``the jury found that the plaintiff did not show that secondhand smoke caused the illnesses she claims to have.''

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