RHODE ISLAND TO RETRY LEAD-PAINT SUIT:

A jury will hear the retrial in Rhode Island of a landmark lawsuit against the lead paint industry. Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein rejected the state’s motion to have a judge, rather than a six-person jury, hear the case. The first trial against eight corporations that manufactured lead-based paints for allegedly creating a public nuisance ended with a hung jury in 2002. It is “the constitutional right of defendants to have issues of fact determined by a jury,” Silverstein said, citing the state constitution that took effect in 1843. Attorney General Patrick Lynch said the state is considering whether it will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. Child advocates, government officials and financial experts around the country have been following Rhode Island’s efforts to force the corporations, including Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams Co., to clean up contamination from paints they made and marketed two generations ago. The state claims the companies’ products poison nearly 3,000 Rhode Island children each year. The companies have argued the state is spreading fear by exaggerating its case. The other defendants are the Atlantic Richfield Co., NL Industries, American Cyanamid Co., Cytec Industries, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., ConAgra Grocery Products Co. and Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Inc. The first trial took seven weeks. The new trial starts April 5.

Topics Lawsuits