Jump to full article: Bloomberg News, 2001-11-13
Author: William McQuillen
Intro: Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. said a Connecticut judge ruled the cigarette maker is not responsible for the death of a longtime smoker.
Superior Court Judge Samuel Sferrazza granted Brown & Williamson's motion for a directed verdict in favor of the tobacco company a week after the trial's opening statements began, Brown & Williamson said.
The family of Arlene DuJack had claimed the British American Tobacco Plc unit makes a defective and unreasonably dangerous product and should be forced to pay damages.
The mother of five, who lived in Killingly, Connecticut, died in 1999 of lung cancer after having smoked Kool cigarettes for 26 years.
The judge decided that cigarettes are not a defective product under Connecticut law, the cigarette maker said.
``It was not the function of courts or juries to determine whether or not cigarettes should be sold,'' said Mitch Neuhauser, a Brown & Williamson attorney.
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