Secondhand Smoke Case: Friday's Highlights

Highlights from Friday, Aug. 19, in Court (Day Three)

These are some of the highlights. We've saved some key points of contention for our upcoming in-depth story about what happened today.

• Day three was spent questioning and cross examining the plaintiff's two expert witnesses, James Repace, biophysicist and a secondhand smoke consultant, and Dr. Alfred Munzer, pulmonologist and former president of the American Lung Association.

• Michael Goecke, the associate attorney for GHI, noted that Repace recorded a similar amount of carcinogens in the smoke-free courtroom as he did while testing for carcinogens in Schuman’s apartment while Darko Popovic was smoking outside.

• Repace testified that, according to a 2006 report by the Surgeon General, there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

• Repace confirmed he was paid $250 per hour by Schuman. He also confirmed that he had made around $10,000 so far from his involvement in Schuman’s case.

• Repace said Schuman’s situation was not unique. He estimated that 5 to 6 million multi-unit dwellings in the U.S. experienced some smoke infiltration.

• Jason Fisher, the primary counsel for GHI, spent time in the afternoon questioning Schuman's expert medical witness, Munzer, about whether it was possible for a person to experience psychosomatic symptoms of secondhand smoke exposure, if they became knowledgeable of its dangers.

In Brief: David S. Schuman v. Greenbelt Homes, Inc., et al.

The case is being held in the Prince George's County Circuit Court, Upper Marlboro.

David Schuman is suing his housing cooperative, GHI, over his neighbors (The Popovic's) secondhand smoke, which Schuman asserts is a nuisance and is posing a danger to his health. He believes that GHI violated his Mutual Ownership Contract by its failure to prohibit the nuisance, and as a result is seeking a total of $600,000 in damages.