Head of U.S. Tobacco Trial Team Steps Down

The head of the trial team in the Justice Department’s racketeering case against top cigarette makers has resigned, months after clashing with senior department officials over how much the industry should pay in damages.

The department announced Sharon Y. Eubanks’ withdrawal from the landmark case in a notice filed late Wednesday in federal court in Washington. In a telephone interview, Eubanks, 50, said she was leaving the department after 22 years “to pursue other opportunities in the law.”

In June, in the waning days of a nine-month trial, Eubanks and her team were ordered by senior department officials to drastically lower the toughest sanction they had sought -- cutting their demand for a $130-billion industry-funded smoking-cessation program to $10 billion.

Eubanks said Wednesday that she was leaving of her own accord, but that “working here at the Justice Department under the political leadership that I’ve had to work under has been a challenge.”

It’s unclear whether her departure will influence the outcome of the marathon case, the largest civil suit ever filed by the government under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as RICO. With almost all post-trial filings completed, the case is now in the hands of U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who is expected to rule sometime next year. About five government lawyers from the trial team of 35 will stay on the case, with the rest now being reassigned.

Eubanks will be replaced by Stephen D. Brody, who had been deputy chief of the trial team. Brody referred questions to the department’s office of public affairs, which declined to comment.

Eubanks’ resignation comes amid an investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility into the sudden change in the government’s stance during closing arguments in June. The shift brought charges of political interference, with public health groups and Democrats in Congress accusing the Bush administration of trying to shield the industry from a devastating financial hit.

Department officials, led by Associate Atty. Gen. Robert McCallum, denied political motives, saying that they scaled back their demands to maintain credibility with a skeptical judge, and to conform with an appeals court ruling, issued in mid-trial, limiting the scope of potential damages.

In addition to the $10-billion cessation program, the government has asked Kessler to order the industry to fund a $4-billion anti-smoking advertising and education program, and to pay fines if targets for cutting youth smoking aren’t met.