Groundbreaking tobacco trial nears end
More than five years after filing suit, US federal prosecutors are wrapping up their groundbreaking racketeering case against major cigarette makers, accused of conspiring for decades to mislead the public about the health risks of smoking.
Tobacco companies deny the government’s allegations, while arguing that the law severely limits any sanctions the trial judge can impose even if she finds against them after closing arguments end this week.
The Justice Department filed the case five years ago under the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, known as RICO. US District Judge Gladys Kessler has been hearing the non-jury trial, which produced more than 44,000 pages of testimony.
Today, government attorneys were to offer closing arguments. Tobacco companies will follow with their final statements on Wednesday, and both sides will address the court once more on Thursday.
The companies are likely to focus their closing arguments on the limitations of the RICO statute and how it restricts what Kessler can do.
“I think it’s fair to say that what you’re going to see from the defendants is a blistering and well-deserved attack on the government’s case,” said William S. Ohlemeyer, vice president of Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA.
Other defendants in the lawsuit are R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., British American Tobacco Ltd., Lorillard Tobacco Co., Liggett Group Inc., Counsel for Tobacco Research-USA. And the Tobacco Institute.
In February, an appeals court stripped the government of its biggest stick against the defendants, denying a request to seek $280bn (€228.3bn) in allegedly ill-gotten gains. The companies argue that many of the other suggested penalties – including paying for smoking cessation programs or reductions in youth smoking – aren’t permitted under civil RICO law.
“Any remedy that is anything more than an injunction is not likely to withstand appellate review,” said Dan Webb, a Philip Morris attorney. “That’s the problem the government faces in the case right now.”
Kessler can name the penalty if she finds the companies liable, but government attorneys will likely provide guidance as they wrap up their case.
William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, questioned whether the government, which tried to settle the case in 2001, would have the stomach to ask for penalties that would change the behaviour of cigarette makers.
“We’re facing an unprecedented 50 year fraud, and protecting our children into the future requires some very strong remedies,” Corr said. “We ... are concerned that at this last hour, the influence of the tobacco industry will pervade.”
A Justice Department spokesman said the agency had no comment on the trial.
The fight isn’t likely to end when the gavel comes down this week. The need for a record that could travel to higher courts was noted frequently during the trial, and the government must still decide whether to try taking the appeals court’s decision to the Supreme Court.
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said the case has been “largely a lawyer’s fight.”
“You didn’t have shocking disclosures of heads in a duffel bag. This is not the Michael Jackson trial,” Turley said. “The trial was breathtakingly boring.”
Still, he said, “ultimately its impact may be quite important.”
