Cigarette Maker Cleared in Smoker’s Death

Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. isn’t responsible for a longtime smoker’s death in 1986 from lung cancer, a Texas jury said in the first individual tobacco trial in the state. After about 10 hours of deliberations, the jury in Beaumont voted 10 to 2 to deny damages to Wiley Grinnell’s family. The verdict is the latest in a string of victories for the tobacco industry. Attorneys for the world’s No. 2 tobacco company had said Grinnell chose to smoke knowing that cigarettes were addictive and could cause lung cancer. The verdict is viewed by some as a signal on other tobacco cases in Texas, a state in which juries have returned large damage awards, for example, in asbestos litigation. “The area around Beaumont is considered plaintiff-friendly, making this decision an even more important victory for [Brown] and the industry,” said Martin Feldman, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney. The American depositary receipts of British American Tobacco, Brown’s parent, rose 34 cents to close at $16.76 on the American Stock Exchange.