Tobacco company appeals wrongful death case

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An attorney defending Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company says it shouldn't have to pay the husband of a Kansas City-area woman who smoked for decades.

The case is on appeal after Barbara Smith's family filed a wrongful death suit against the company. The Lee's Summit woman died in 2000 from a heart attack. In 2005, a Jackson County jury awarded her husband, Lincoln Smith, more than $20 million.

Brown & Williamson attorney Andrew McGaan says Smith was unsuccessful in a personal injury case against the company, which should block the wrongful death claim.

An attorney representing Lincoln Smith says the family dropped the injury case but struck a deal with the company that the dismissal wouldn't prevent a wrongful death case.