Judge Sets Tobacco Lawsuit Trial Date in 2003

A federal judge set a tentative trial date of July 15, 2003, for the federal government’s racketeering claims against the tobacco industry. The trial date had been set for January 2003. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in September dismissed two counts of the Justice Department’s lawsuit that sought to recover billions of dollars spent by the federal government on smoking-related illnesses. But she ruled the Justice Department could proceed with two counts under the federal racketeering law to seek to force the tobacco firms to give up their “ill-gotten” profits obtained through fraud and deceit since the 1950s. The defendants are Philip Morris Cos., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Loews Corp.’s Lorillard Tobacco Co. Inc., Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett Group Inc., the Council for Tobacco Research-USA Inc. and the Tobacco Institute Inc.