Tillery
ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) - A St. Louis jury on Tuesday failed to return a verdict in a class action case against Philip Morris USA over whether smokers were deceived into believing "light" and low-tar cigarettes reduced health hazards.
As a result, St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael David declared a mistrial in the $700 million lawsuit against the cigarette maker.
"After 11 years of pre-trial proceedings and a month and a half of testimony, today's mistrial shows that the plaintiffs failed to convince a jury of their claims," Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of Philip Morris, said in a statement Tuesday.
"We continue to believe that these claims are baseless and today's mistrial shows that we have powerful defenses in these 'lights' cases."
Attorney Stephen Tillery of St. Louis is lead plaintiff attorney and indicated he will take the case to trial again.
Read the complete story at Legal Newsline.