Opening Statements in the Tobacco Trial

From the Associated Press via Law.com: "Decades of Deception Alleged as $280 Billion Tobacco Trial Opens," by Nancy Zuckerbrod--

The nation's biggest tobacco companies worked together for decades to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking, a federal lawyer alleged Tuesday at the start of a civil racketeering trial in which the government seeks a record $280 billion from the industry.

In his opening statement, Justice Department attorney Frank Marine said starting in the 1960s the industry spent hundreds of millions of dollars on organizations set up to counter the growing body of scientific evidence linking smoking to cancer.

He cited internal industry documents showing company executives knew they were trying to deceive the public.

"The problem to them was that the public might stop smoking because of health concerns," he said.