Irwin Tucker Deposition, July 28-29, 1997
Irwin Tucker Deposition, July 28-29, 1997
Dr. Irwin W. Tucker is a retired Ph.D. chemist. He was age 82 at the time of the deposition. During the critical years 1953 through 1960, he was employed as Director of Research for Brown & Williamson, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco Company. He is apparently the only participant still living from the December 1953 tobacco industry meeting at The Plaza hotel in New York which formed the Tobacco Industry Research Council (TIRC). He also was a member of the Industry Technical Committee formed to assist TIRC and participated in the selection of Dr. Clarence Cook Little as the first chairman of TIRC's Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Tucker's deposition was taken July 28-29, 1997 in Louisville, Kentucky, in an asbestos case named Gilda Middleton vs. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., et al., Case no: 95-3923 pending in Civil Division H of the Circuit Court of the 13th Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Florida. This case involves the death of Walter Middleton. There are allegations in that case that both smoking and asbestos exposure contributed to Mr. Middleton's death. The deposition was originally noticed by the tobacco manufacturer defendants as a videotaped deposition to perpetuate Dr. Tucker's testimony for use at trial should Dr. Tucker be unavailable to testify in person. Plaintiff's counsel then demanded a non-videotaped discovery deposition to precede the videotaped direct examination.
The first session was transcribed by Carl R. Trieloff of E'TOWN COURT REPORTING, 120 East Memorial Drive, Elizabethtown, KY 42701, (502) 737-2028. The second session was transcribed by Sandra L. Allyn, of ALLYN COURT REPORTING, INC. 100 Millstone Drive, Richmond, Kentucky 40475 (606) 269-7053 or 1-800-811-8307.
The electronic transcripts available here lack the formatting of the original transcripts, which would not display well on a web browser. Depending on the rules applicable, it is possible that certified copies of these transcripts in their customary format can be obtained from the court reporters listed above. The attorneys representing the parties may also be willing to supply more official copies of these transcripts. Page numbers [but not line numbers] from the original transcript are indicated in the version available here, using the format "(starting page #)" at the start of each new page. The two transcripts were page-numbered in sequence, so that the July 29 transcript starts at page 130.
Summary of the deposition [future link to TuckSumm.txt]
Extracts:
B&W's failure to keep abreast of scientific literature [future link to TuckExt1.txt]
Death rate required to demonstrate hazard (10% or 50%) [future link to TuckExt2.txt]
Lack of product safety testing [future link to TuckExt3.txt]
Persistent belief that tobacco and asbestos do not cause cancer [future link to TuckExt4.txt]
Lack of basis to deny hazards [future link to TuckExt5.txt]
B&W lacked means for safety testing [future link to TuckExt6.txt]
No labeling of tar or nicotine levels [future link to TuckExt7.txt]
Reynolds research re carcinogens withheld from other manufacturers [future link to TuckExt8.txt]
Unaware that TIRC scientists had concluded smoking caused lung cancer [future link to TuckExt9.txt]
[future link to TuckExt0.txt]
We are unaware of any court orders restricting the use of this transcript. The original electronic version of the transcript included no copyright claim. There are no limitations on the use of the summary, which was prepared by a user of this WebSite.
Dr. Tucker gave one tobacco-related deposition prior to the deposition available here. The prior deposition was taken by telephone in the Broin class action, (Broin et al. v. The Philip Morris Company, et al., Case No. 91-49738, case pending in Dade County, Florida) on June 27, 1997. We are not aware of a version of this deposition available electronically, though the attorneys named in transcripts here should have hard copies. [Note: The Broin Deposition just became available (at $60!) through Mealeys (9/30/97)--gb]
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