sample="rhetorical" bates="2073177060" isource="pm" decade="1990" class="ui" date="19960808" Draft Employee Desk Drop/Worldwide/All Operating Companies Signed by M. Bring 8/8/96 The verdict in Carter v. American Tobacco is an unfortunate turn of events, but it while disappointing is not without precedent. We should all remember that the jury returned a verdict against Liggett ( of 400,000) in the 1988 Cipollone trial that but the verdict was later reversed on appeal. The verdict against American Tobacco is an aberration. It defies common sense and It runs contrary to all previous verdicts in prior smoking and health cases. and j Jury after jury have has agreed that people who are aware of the alleged risks of smoking and choose to smoke are responsible for that their decision s It is not a responsibility that can or should be transferred to someone else. The Carter verdict sets no legal precedent. It should not have any legal effect on future cases. Each case must be tried on its own set of facts and is based on the individual circumstances of an each individual smoker. It also The verdict follows on the heels of many recent positive developments in tobacco litigation including the decertification of the Castano class, the dismissal of several individual smoking and health cases in Florida, and the decision by the Legal Aid Board in London not to found a class action case against the industry in Great Britain. American Tobacco is expected to appeal this decision and, ultimately, this the verdict should also the vast majority of be overturned.