Tobacco Trial Probe Finds No Tampering

A Mississippi prosecutor said Thursday that the investigation of alleged jury tampering by American Tobacco while defending itself in a wrongful death trial turned up no evidence of any criminal activity by the cigarette company.

The jury tampering charges arose from a case brought in Lexington, Miss., against American Tobacco by the family of Nathan Horton, a smoker of American’s Pall Mall brand who died last year at age 50 of lung cancer. The suit, which sought $16.5 million in damages, ended in a hung jury Jan. 29.

Frank Carlton, district attorney for Mississippi’s 4th Judicial District, said investigators confirmed allegations that Norman Clark, Jr., a local jury consultant for American’s legal defense team, contacted two jurors and the husband of a third during the trial.

But Carlton said there was no evidence that Clark tried to influence jurors, one of whom said Clark phoned her several times on trial days for “what he said were wake-up calls.”

“What (Clark) did was more in the nature of being a busy-body, if you want to know the truth about it,” Carlton said in a telephone interview.

Ruling Awaited

There was no evidence that an alleged conversation between a juror and a second jury consultant ever took place, Carlton said.

American Tobacco officials could not be reached for comment. But their lead trial lawyer, James Upshaw, had predicted last week that the company would be vindicated. “We’ll be clean, and we’ll see who’s dirty,” he said.

Fred Clark, a lawyer for the Horton family, said he was not surprised by Carlton’s conclusion. “I think the whole story is not out,” he said.