Judge Calls Tobacco Exec’s Testimony ‘Self-Serving’

A federal judge Monday discounted as “self-serving” the testimony of Philip Morris USA Chief Executive Michael Szymanczyk in the government’s racketeering case against cigarette makers.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington, impatient as the cross-examination of Szymanczyk extended into the middle of its second day, told a lawyer for the government that she would look skeptically at what the CEO had to say.

“When I read 200 to 300 pages of self-serving testimony about ‘Oh, how wonderful we are,’ don’t you think I can take that into account?” Kessler asked Justice Department lawyer Sharon Eubanks.

The judge’s comment came after Eubanks spent the morning going through a series of arguments and exhibits in a protracted effort to cast doubt on Szymanczyk’s testimony.

Szymanczyk has emphasized that Philip Morris has changed and is now a “respectable” company that deals with the public openly about the dangers of smoking and backs youth smoking prevention programs.

In written testimony, Szymanczyk said Philip Morris had made a series of changes since the late 1990s, including a decision to drop a long-held stance questioning whether smoking was addictive and whether its links to disease had been fully proved. The company has since deferred to public health authorities on the effects of smoking.

During cross-examination, Eubanks tried to convince Kessler that the changes made by the company were really cosmetic moves designed to blunt public anger and help defend it against sick-smoker lawsuits.

Questioned later by a Philip Morris lawyer, Szymanczyk maintained that the changes in the way the company deals with the public were more than cosmetic. He was asked repeatedly whether health advisories on television and the Philip Morris website were a public relations “gimmick” or “gesture,” and answered “No” each time.

Szymanczyk also denied suggestions by Eubanks that Philip Morris could revert to its less cooperative stance. “I don’t think we have any desire to go backwards on this,” he said.

The government suit, launched in 1999, targets Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris unit; Loews Corp.’s Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group; Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.