Tobacco Documents - Amendment to Order with Respect to Non-Liggett Defendants' Objections to the Special Master's Report Dated February 10, 1998 (March 7, 1998)
| STATE OF MINNESOTA | | DISTRICT COURT |
| COUNTY OF RAMSEY | | SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT |
| | | CASE TYPE: OTHER CIVIL |
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| | | Court File No. C1-94-8565 |
The State of Minnesota,
By Hubert H. Humphrey, III,
Its Attorney General,
and
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota,
vs.
Philip Morris Incorporated,
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company,
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation,
B.A.T. Industries, p.l.c.,
British-American Tobacco Company Limited,
BAT (U.K. & Export) Limited,
Lorillard Tobacco Company,
The American Tobacco Company,
Liggett Group, Inc.,
The Council for Tobacco Research - U.S.A., Inc., and
The Tobacco Institute, Inc. | AMENDMENT TO
ORDER WITH RESPECT
TO NON-LIGGETT DEFENDANTS'
OBJECTIONS TO THE
SPECIAL MASTER'S REPORT
DATED FEBRUARY 10, 1998
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WHEREAS, it has been brought to the Court's attention that a certain list of documents was misidentified in paragraph 3.a. of this Court's Order with Respect to Non-Liggett Defendants' Objections to the Special Master's Report Dated February 10, 1998, filed March 7, 1998, at 8:04 a.m. (CLAD # 2345) (herein "March 7, 1998, Order");
WHEREAS, having revisited the issue of the 68 documents which Defendant R.J. Reynolds identified in the Affidavit of Jeffrey Jones dated February 16, 1998, the Court finds (1) that said documents were not included in Exhibit 1 (documents alleged to have been miscategorized), (2) that the Special Master properly examined the categories into which said documents were placed by Defendant, (3) that the Special Master applied the proper legal standards and analyses, (4) that the Special Master made appropriate findings with respect to said categories, and (5) that said documents shall be released along with the other documents classified in Categories 1, 3, 4b, and 5;
WHEREAS, the Court desires there be no delay with respect to production of the Released Documents:
THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1.. Paragraph 3.a. of the March 7, 1998, Order shall be amended as follows:
3. a. All Non-Liggett Documents designated by Defendants and Plaintiffs as Category 1, i.e., the 457 documents listed in Appendix A.
2. The second sentence of paragraph 8 of the March 7, 1998, Order shall be deleted in its entirety. Thus, as amended, Paragraph 8 shall provide as follows:
8. With respect to the 458 documents listed in Exhibit 1 which Plaintiffs claim were miscategorized (i.e., those which contain references to nicotine or addiction and should have been categorized as Category 3), such documents shall be remanded to the Special Master for further examination of a random sample to determine whether same were miscategorized. If the Special Master finds that mischaracterization is more than a statistical anomaly, privilege shall be waived as to all the documents listed in Exhibit 1; the Court will not tolerate a pattern of abuse of the categorization process.
3. With respect to documents to be obtained from the neutral privilege facility at the Minneapolis Depository, Plaintiffs may request the Released Documents by Bates number and Defendant, beginning Monday, March 9, 1998, at 8:04 a.m. The Special Master or his agent(s) shall assist in providing access to the neutral facility by approved persons at his earliest convenience.
4. This Amendment shall not extend the deadline for production of the Released Documents as set forth in paragraph 4 of the March 7, 1998, Order, except that the 68 documents listed in the Affidavit of Jeffrey Jones dated February 16, 1998 (CLAD # 2274) shall be made available to Plaintiffs and deposited within the Minneapolis Depository (if they have not already been so deposited) within forty-eight (48) hours from the date and time of filing of this Amendment.
5. All other provisions of the March 7, 1998, Order shall remain in full force and effect.
Dated: March 7, 1998
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Kenneth J. Fitzpatrick
Kenneth J. Fitzpatrick
Judge of District Court