FIRESTONE SUIT HITS MISTRIAL

BAY CITY, Texas -- A mistrial has been declared in a lawsuit filed against
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. in the rollover crash of a Ford Explorer, with
the judge saying an attorney for the tire company gave a false impression
about the driver's marijuana use.

Three college students, Lesley Milberger, Erin Brunner and Sally Kowalik,
were traveling from California to Texas, towing a U-Haul trailer, when the
accident happened in June 1999. It was Milberger's Explorer, but Kowalik
was driving it at the time.

Estlinbaum was asked to declare a mistrial because Firestone attorney
Morgan Copeland implied that Kowalik had finished off her supply of
marijuana before the accident happened.

Court records show all three girls smoked marijuana on the trip, but the
court has ordered that evidence only be presented about Kowalik's drug use.

Kowalik's attorneys argued that the Firestone attorney wrongly implied that
their client smoked the group's marijuana supply, which amounted to between
six and eight cigarettes, on her own.