PROVIDENCE / Updated 5:25 p.m. -- Superior Court Judge Michael A.
Silverstein declared a mistrial this afternoon in the state's landmark
lawsuit against eight national corporations that made lead paint.
The six-member jury sent a note to the judge shortly after 2 p.m. that
it could not reach a unanimous decision on whether the paints
constituted a public nuisance. It said that none of the jurors'
positions had changed since the group took a poll at the outset of
deliberations on Thursday.
Silverstein asked if the jurors thought it would be worthwhile to quit
for the day and return for a fifth day of deliberations tomorrow.
The jury's foreman replied, "I don't believe so, your honor."
State Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse vowed to get a new trial started,
although he will be leaving office after his term ends in December. He
also filed a motion asking the judge for summary judgment.
"The only concern with this delay is that more kids get poisoned, and
the defendants are intransigent about doing one darn thing other than
being litigious," Whitehouse said.
Jurors had heard seven weeks of testimony before beginning their
deliberations last week.
Lawyers involved in the case seemed surprised. They had expected a
verdict by Friday.
The jury was being asked to decide if the paints sold by the
corporations two generations ago now constitute a public nuisance by
continuing to poison children in Rhode Island.
Issues of liability or possible damages in the case were to be the
subject of future trials, which would be heard by another jury.
Still, the decision was expected by some to have been historic, because
it could have opened the floodgates for many other lawsuits against the
paint companies, or deter other communities from trying.
The defendants are: Sherwin-Williams Co., American Cyanimid Co.,
Atlantic Richfield Co., E.I. duPont deNemours & Co., NL Industries,
Millennium Inorganic Chemicals Inc., ConAgra Grocery Products Co. and
Cytec Industries.
Lead paint was banned in 1978, after studies showed flaking paint or
dust is harmful to children who eat or breathe it. Health problems
include behavioral disorders, brain damage and even death.
During the course of the trial, lawyers on both sides portrayed
dramatically opposing pictures of the dangers that lead paint poses to
young children living in Rhode Island.
The state claimed the paint is a public health threat, arguing it has
poisoned 35,000 children in Rhode Island since 1993. Lead paint remains
in about 330,000 private homes and public buildings in Rhode Island --
about 80 percent of the state's housing stock.
The paint companies contended the problem is isolated to deteriorating
paint found in homes managed by delinquent landlords or irresponsible
homeowners.
More than 40 lawsuits have been filed since 1989 by individuals and
communities against lead paint companies. All have failed. Rhode Island
is the first state to sue the industry under public nuisance law.
-- With reports from Journal environmental writer Peter B. Lord and
the Associated Press
DIGITAL EXTRA: Find out
more about the trial and the state's efforts to fight lead poisoning.
