By John Schwartz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 3, 1998; Page A02

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 2—Appearing for the first time before a jury in a tobacco case, Philip Morris Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey C. Bible today withstood a day of intense questioning in the state of Minnesota's lawsuit against cigarette makers.

As the sixth week of testimony began, the state's lead attorney, Michael Ciresi, focused on the industry's argument that consumers fully understood the risks of smoking even though the companies themselves never fully acknowledged what they knew about them.

Bible agreed that cigarette smoke contains "animal carcinogens" but refused to say that that fact translated into cancer in humans. "I know it is a very significant risk factor" for such diseases, Bible said, echoing years of tobacco industry statements. But, Bible added, "I believe that everyone in the world believes that smoking causes disease." Did that include him, Ciresi asked? "I don't know," Bible responded.

In Senate testimony last week, Bible struck a conciliatory stance, saying he would warn his 3-year-old granddaughter of tobacco's risks: "I don't think I'd ever want her to smoke." Warning the public of health risks, he said, is the government's job and not industry's.

As Ciresi presented internal company documents that suggested Philip Morris officials have known for decades that smoking can cause cancer and other illnesses, Bible, who has headed the company only since 1994, said he was unfamiliar with them, unqualified to judge scientific issues and uninterested in learning more.

"I've really been focused on the future and not the past," said Bible, who is one of the driving forces behind the industry's attempts to get Congress to approve tobacco legislation that would involve the industry trading public health concessions and large financial payments for protection from some lawsuits.

Ciresi often bristled as he questioned Bible, a gray-haired Australian who generally responded with quiet politeness during his almost five hours of testimony. Late in the day, however, the voice was tinged with weariness, punctuated with occasional sighs.

The Minnesota case is the first of 41 suits filed by states against the industry to recover the costs of treating sick smokers to go to trial. State attorneys general and many private attorneys reached a proposed settlement with the industry last summer that would end the state suits, but legislation based on that settlement must be approved by Congress before the deal can take effect. In the meantime, the suits are moving forward. Mississippi, Florida and Texas have settled their suits with the industry for some $30 billion.

Although the state of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota are seeking $1.77 billion in direct medical costs, the industry could be forced to pay treble damages if the jury finds that the companies violated the state's antitrust laws.

During today's proceedings, jurors also viewed a videotaped deposition from James Morgan, former CEO of Philip Morris's North American tobacco operations. In depositions taken last summer, Morgan, who oversaw a voluntary Philip Morris program to reduce underage smoking, said "with absolute certainty and conviction" that he and the company don't want minors to smoke: "The last day that the last kid, underage kid, lights up a cigarette will be the happiest day of my life." His company had been painted into a corner by anti-tobacco activists who said they marketed to children, he said. "We don't need 'em, we don't want 'em and it is hurting us."

But when attorney Roman M. Silberfeld showed Morgan a half-dozen documents showing that analysts in the company had monitored smoking habits of 12-year-olds and older over time – and one newly released document that showed that 15- to 19-year-olds had been surveyed about smoking by the company's own Product Opinion Laboratory testing unit – Morgan's cheerful manner changed.

One study, he said, "embarrassed" him and should not have been conducted. Another he called an "anomaly" out of the more than 6 million documents released by the company. When shown a few memos by Philip Morris analyst Myron Johnson, including one noting that "today's teenager is tomorrow's potential customer," Morgan dismissed Johnson as the "house provocateur" and said that his memos had no effect on policy.

Philip Morris attorney Greg Little said he was unimpressed with the Ciresi performance, since it consisted of showing people documents they had not seen. Ciresi uses witnesses as nothing more than a "document delivery device," Little said, that allows him to present the maximum amount of paper without getting to the actual knowledge of the witnesses. "I don't think the jury is going to be very impressed with that," Little said.