Pubdate: Thu, 21 May 1998
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author:  Hunter T. George

STATE WINS ACCESS TO TOBACCO DATA

OLYMPIA - Washington state, next in line to take its tobacco lawsuit to
trial, has won access to internal R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. memos written by
a researcher who tracked concerns in the medical community about smoking, an
attorney said yesterday.

After reviewing a random sample, King County Superior Court Judge George
Finkle ruled last week that most of the 2,800 documents failed to meet the
criteria of attorney-client privilege and ordered them released to the
state.

John Hough, a senior assistant attorney general who's overseeing the state's
lawsuit against the tobacco industry, said the documents contain memos
written by longtime RJR researcher Frank Colby.

Hough said it was Colby's job to review concerns in the medical community
about smoking and cancer, and to report what he found to RJR officials.

"I don't think we'll find any particular smoking guns in here. But it's one
of the building blocks of our case," Hough said of the documents, which were
part of Minnesota's case against the industry that was settled earlier this
month for $6.6 billion.

"They show the extent to which tobacco companies were trying to learn what
was going on in the medical community so they could plot their counter
strategies."

A spokesman for RJR, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., could not be reached for
comment.

The state has sued seven tobacco companies, their research divisions and a
public-relations firm to recover medical costs for smoking-related
illnesses.

Under Finkle's ruling, RJR has until Tuesday to turn over most of the
documents and explain why any documents still being withheld should remain
confidential.

As has been the case in previous battles over company documents, Finkle's
ruling allows the attorney general's office to review the documents, but it
doesn't clear the papers for release to the public.

Hough said the state will continue to examine lists of documents that the
tobacco industry has claimed are protected by the attorney-client privilege,
as it did in the case of the Colby memos.

The industry has reached settlements with Minnesota, Texas, Florida and
Mississippi for a total of $36.5 billion.

Trial for Washington's lawsuit is scheduled for Sept. 14 in Seattle.

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Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"