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Big Tobacco Found Guilty of Practices 

``We did not agree with some of the basic requirements of RICO,'' one member of the 12-person jury said. Another juror said some jurors did believe fraud existed, ``but there wasn't enough evidence.''

The lead plaintiff attorney seemed relatively pleased with the outcome.

``We're disappointed in the common law (fraud) and RICO charges, but we're very pleased that for the first time we're a third party payor that prevailed,'' Vincent FitzPatrick said soon after the verdict was read. FitzPatrick said he expects to see other deceptive business practice suits around the country. ``This is in a sense is just the beginning.''

COMPANIES PLAN TO APPEAL

``We're obviously not 100 percent pleased, but we're pretty damn close,'' Peter Bleakley, an attorney for Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company, said soon after the verdict was announced. ``We're first pleased about the common law (fraud) and RICO, but even the (deceptive) business practices was limited. I can't imagine this kind of result is going to be encouraging to third party plaintiffs.''

Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson said in separate statements that they plan to appeal the verdict.

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