Defendants' Enterprise Had a Common Purpose

Defendants' Enterprise Had a Common Purpose

¶The central shared objective of Defendants has been to maximize the profits of the cigarette company Defendants by acting in concert to preserve and enhance the market for cigarettes through an overarching scheme to defraud existing and potential smokers. Indeed, documents recounting the December 1953 meeting at the Plaza Hotel attended by the presidents of Defendants Philip Morris, RJR, B&W, Lorillard, and American -- a meeting called by American's president to discuss an "industry response" to research identifying cigarette smoking as a cause of lung cancer -- report that the executives agreed to jointly

sponsor a public relations campaign which is positive in nature and is entirely "pro-cigarettes. . . ." [The executives] are also emphatic in saying that the entire activity is a long-term, continuing program, since they feel that the problem is one of promoting cigarettes and protecting them from these and other attacks that may be expected in the future. Each of the company presidents attending emphasized the fact that they consider the program to be a long-term one.

¶MTP0023548-3552 at 3549 (US 21411). See also Findings of Fact Section III(B). Defendants recognized that their competing companies would benefit from working together on certain common problems while continuing to compete against each other for the largest share of the cigarette market.

¶Over the next several decades, the common goal of preserving and enhancing the cigarette market, maximizing profits, avoiding costly liability judgments, and deterring or minimizing attempts to make smoking socially unacceptable remained central to the actions of Defendants. During that time, Defendants uniformly denied, both individually and collectively: that smoking had been proven as a cause of cancer and other serious diseases (while falsely promising that the industry was funding independent research to determine the health effects of smoking); that secondhand smoke caused disease; that smoking was addictive; that the industry manipulated the levels of nicotine in its products; that light and low tar cigarettes were no less hazardous than full flavor cigarettes; and that the industry marketed its products to young people.

¶The United States has shown that the Defendant members of the Enterprise who were not physically present at the Plaza Hotel meeting -- including Liggett, Altria (which was formed in 1985 and had previously been known as Philip Morris Companies), BATCo, CTR (which was first created as the Tobacco Industry Research Committee in the wake of the December 1953 meeting), and the Tobacco Institute (which was formed in 1958) -- also shared the common goals of the Enterprise and acted in furtherance of those goals. See Findings of Fact Section III. Moreover, in furtherance of the central objectives of the Enterprise, Defendants attempted to, and at times did, conceal or suppress information and destroy documents. Their purpose in taking such action was to avoid adverse liability judgments in litigation involving smoking and health issues and to prevent discovery of evidence regarding the causal link between cigarettes, addiction, and disease. See Findings of Fact Section V(H).

3. The Enterprise operated through both formal and informal organization Like an amoeba, the organization of the Enterprise changed its shape to fit its current needs,

¶adding organizations when necessary and eliminating them when they became obsolete. Whatever the shape or composition of the Enterprise at any given time, again like an amoeba, its core purpose remained constant: survival of the industry. The participants in the Enterprise coordinated and strategized in order to preserve and enhance the cigarette market and, in turn, their individual revenues. The Enterprise created and used formal and informal entities, many with overlapping participants and purposes, to serve Defendants' central mission.

¶For example, in terms of formal organization, TIRC/CTR and the Tobacco Institute were jointly formed and funded by other Defendant-members of the Enterprise to help the industry execute the strategy devised to achieve their shared goal. TIRC/CTR sponsored and funded research that attacked scientific studies demonstrating the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes but did not itself conduct research addressing the fundamental questions regarding the adverse health effects of smoking. Moreover, attorneys for Defendants initiated and oversaw CTR "Special Projects" -- research projects conceived and directed by industry representatives, including industry lawyers, to support scientists who had shown a willingness and ability to generate data, and provide testimony, that would bolster the industry's litigation position before courts and governmental bodies. See Findings of Fact Section III(E)(2). Altria executives served on the Board of Directors of CTR, and Altria had, and exercised, approval authority for CTR special projects. See, e.g., Parrish TT, 1/27/05, 11349:8-11352:23, 11355:1-11357:8; (no bates) US 87508; (no bates) US 20384.

¶Similarly, from 1958 to 1998, the Tobacco Institute actively designed, wrote, and caused to be published press releases, advertisements, pamphlets, and testimony that advanced Defendants' jointly-formulated positions on smoking and health issues, including denying that smoking cigarettes caused disease and was addictive, and supported the false claim that the link between smoking cigarettes and exposure to secondhand smoke and adverse health effects was an "open question." See Findings of Fact Section III(D)(3). The Tobacco Institute served as an effective conduit of information between members of the Enterprise both domestically and internationally through its various committees. See Findings of Fact Section III(D)(4). Altria executives attended meetings of the TI Committee of Counsel and sat on the TI Executive Committee. Parrish TT, 1/27/05, 11352:24-11353:24; (no bates) (US 62461); (no bates) (US 88252); (no bates) (US 88308).

¶Defendants also used numerous other means -- including structures of varying degrees of formality such as CIAR, the Committee of Counsel, the ETS Advisory Committee, the Ad Hoc

¶Committee, the Research Liaison Committee, the Industry Technical Committee, law firms20, and direct communications between and among members of the Enterprise -- to coordinate their activities, ensure continued adherence to the joint strategy, and enable the Enterprise to respond as new threats to the industry arose. See Findings of Fact Section III(F).

¶Defendants' claim that the Enterprise no longer has any organization within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c) because all of the "all of the organizational vehicles for the 'enterprise' no longer exist" is unpersuasive. Defs.' Corrected Trial Brief at 29. While it is true that CTR and TI were dissolved pursuant to the terms of the MSA, all of the other organizations either still exist or can be readily re-activated. Moreover, the individuals and Defendant-companies participating in these organizations, who, incidentally, often overlapped, still exist. Most importantly, Defendants have an ongoing need to satisfy the same purposes which these organizations met. Put simply, these organizations can be resurrected, recreated, or reincarnated at any time as Defendants wish. For example, Philip Morris currently has PMERP (Philip Morris External Research Program) which operates out of CIAR's former headquarters, is directed by CIAR's former scientific director, Max Eisenberg, and continues to fund many former CIAR projects.