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1 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF CLEVELAND COUNTY 2 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 3 STATE OF OKLAHOMA, ex rel., ) MIKE HUNTER ) 4 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA, ) ) 5 Plaintiff, ) ) 6 vs. ) Case No. CJ-2017-816 ) 7 (1) JOHNSON & JOHNSON; ) (2) JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICALS, ) 8 INC.; ) (3) ORTHO-McNEIL-JANSSEN ) 9 PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., ) n/k/a JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICALS; ) 10 (4) JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA, ) INC., n/k/a JANSSEN ) 11 PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., ) ) 12 Defendants. ) 13 14 PORTIONS OF TRANSCRIPT MAY BE COVERED UNDER PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS HAD ON MAY 28, 2019 (MORNING SESSION) 16 AT THE CLEVELAND COUNTY COURTHOUSE BEFORE THE HONORABLE THAD BALKMAN 17 DISTRICT JUDGE 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 REPORTED BY: ANGELA THAGARD, CSR, RPR DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 2 1 APPEARANCES: 2 ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF: 3 MR. MICHAEL BURRAGE MR. REGGIE WHITTEN 4 ATTORNEYS AT LAW 512 N. BROADWAY AVE, SUITE 300 5 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73102 6 7 MR. MIKE HUNTER ATTORNEY GENERAL 8 MS. ABBY DILLSAVER MR. ETHAN A. SHANER 9 ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE 313 N.E. 21ST STREET 10 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73105 11 MR. BRAD BECKWORTH 12 MR. TREY DUCK MS. LISA BALDWIN 13 MR. DREW PATE ATTORNEYS AT LAW 14 3600 N. CAPITAL OF TEXAS HWY, SUITE 350 AUSTIN, TX 78746-3211 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 3 1 ON BEHALF OF ORTHO McNEIL JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.; JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA, INC.; JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.; AND 2 JOHNSON & JOHNSON: 3 MR. JOHN SPARKS MR. BENJAMIN H. ODOM 4 ATTORNEYS AT LAW HIPOINT OFFICE BUILDING 5 2500 MCGEE DRIVE, SUITE 140 NORMAN, OK 73072 6 7 MR. STEPHEN D. BRODY ATTORNEY AT LAW 8 1625 EYE STREET, NORTHWEST WASHINGTON, D.C., 20006 9 10 MR. LARRY D. OTTAWAY MS. AMY SHERRY FISCHER 11 MR. ANDREW BOWMAN ATTORNEYS AT LAW 12 201 ROBERT S. KERR AVENUE, #1200 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73102 13 14 MS. SABRINA H. STRONG ATTORNEY AT LAW 15 400 SOUTH HOPE STREET, 18TH FLOOR LOS ANGELES, CA 90071 16 17 MR. MICHAEL YODER ATTORNEY AT LAW 18 610 NEWPORT CENTER DRIVE, 17TH FLOOR NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92660 19 20 MR. CHARLES LIFLAND ATTORNEY AT LAW 21 400 SOUTH HOPE STREET, 18TH FLOOR LOS ANGELES, CA 90071 22 23 24 25 DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 4 1 INDEX PAGE 2 3 OPENING BY THE STATE Mr. Hunter 8 4 Mr. Beckworth 11 Mr. Whitten 60 5 Mr. Burrage 69 6 7 OPENING BY THE DEFENSE Mr. Ottaway 77 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 5 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE COURT: Good morning. Welcome to the District 3 Court in Cleveland County. There's been a lot of hearings 4 leading up to the beginning of today's trial, giving me the 5 opportunity to witness the professionalism and dedication of 6 counsel on both sides. And I have every expectation that there 7 will be more of the same during the course of this trial. 8 In arriving at today's trial date, it's taken quite an 9 effort. My secretary and bailiff, Jami Welbourne; my court 10 reporter, Angie Thagard and also, Tanya Burcham; our Discovery 11 Master Judge Bill Hetherington; the clerks in the Cleveland 12 County Clerk's Office; the Sheriff's deputies; my law clerks, 13 Jade Pebworth and Gabe Stoops; my fellow judges and their 14 staff, and other courthouse employees have all been so helpful 15 and accommodating in getting this case ready for trial. 16 I notice a few more members than normal here from the 17 media for a Tuesday morning court session. We welcome the 18 media here to our courtroom and that will be covering the trial 19 in the days ahead. 20 Special Master Bob Burke and our staff want to assist the 21 media in their performance of their immensely important work on 22 educating the public and assuring a fair and unfettered 23 judicial forum for all the parties involved. 24 In that connection, I want everyone to know that this is a 25 court of law, not a court of public opinion, and the DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 6 1 proceedings throughout this trial will be guided by that 2 principle. I want all who participate in this trial, whether 3 it be the attorneys, their staff, members of the bar, and the 4 public or the media, who attend these proceedings to know that 5 this is a judicial proceeding. It's not a media event. It's 6 not a televised event. I want to ask everyone to maintain the 7 civility and the decorum that are expected here in this 8 courtroom. 9 To that end, I ask you that if you are here to view the 10 proceedings, that you please turn off your cellphones and 11 ensure that they do not ring and cause a disruption to others 12 or interfere or impede with this trial. I know photography or 13 recordings or broadcasting of this trial via cellphone or any 14 other device is permitted without the express permission of the 15 Court. 16 This is CJ-2017-816. The State of Oklahoma ex rel 17 Attorney General Mike Hunter vs. Johnson & Johnson; Janssen 18 Pharmaceuticals, Inc; Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, 19 Inc, now known as Janssen Pharmaceuticals; Janssen 20 Pharmaceutica, Inc, now known as Janssen Pharmaceuticals. All 21 other defendants have been dismissed from this case. 22 This nonjury trial has been set to consider the State's 23 claim of nuisance against the Johnson & Johnson and Janssen 24 defendants. 25 Counsel, at this time I would like you to please stand, DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 7 1 introduce yourselves, and any corporate representatives you 2 have seated at the table with you. 3 We'll ask the State to go first. 4 MR. HUNTER: Your Honor, Mike Hunter, Attorney 5 General for the State of Oklahoma. 6 MR. BURRAGE: Mike Burrage, counsel for the State. 7 MR. BECKWORTH: Your Honor, Brad Beckworth for the 8 State of Oklahoma. 9 MR. WHITTEN: Reggie Whitten for the State of 10 Oklahoma. 11 MS. DILLSAVER: Abby Dillsaver, State of Oklahoma. 12 MR. DUCK: Trey Duck, State of Oklahoma. 13 MR. SHANER: Ethan Shaner, State of Oklahoma. 14 MR. WHITTEN: Your Honor, our corporate 15 representative for the State of Oklahoma is 16 Commissioner Terri White, seated here. 17 MR. OTTAWAY: Thank you, your Honor. This is 18 Kimberly Deem-Eshleman, who is the corporate representative for 19 the Janssen company. Steve Brody; my colleague, 20 Sabrina Strong, Amy Fischer and, Angie, I'm Larry Ottaway. 21 THE COURT: Thank you. Thank you. 22 Counsel, as we have decided previously, you will now make 23 opening statements. Please remember the Court's previous 24 rulings on motions in limine and on other objections to the 25 evidence when making arguments. Remember each side has been DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 8 1 allotted two hours for the statements. 2 And at this time, State, you may proceed. 3 MR. HUNTER: Thank you, your Honor, may it please the 4 Court. I'm Mike Hunter. I'm the Attorney General, State of 5 Oklahoma, the State's chief law officer. 6 Your Honor, I would like to recognize the efforts of not 7 only you, but Judge Hetherington, Judge Phillips, and Special 8 Master Burke in the heroic effort to bring us all together 9 today in this important trial. 10 In my role as the State's chief law officer, I represent 11 the interests of the four million citizens who reside in our 12 state. And I'm appearing today, as their attorney, to present 13 evidence regarding the worst manmade public health crisis in 14 the history of our country and the state, the prescription 15 opioid epidemic. To put it bluntly, this crisis is devastating 16 Oklahoma. 17 During this trial, your Honor, our evidence will show 18 that 4,653 Oklahomans died of unintentional overdoses involving 19 prescription opioids from 2007 to 2017. 20 There were more than 28,000 admissions for opioid and 21 heroin treatment through state services between 2012 and 2018. 22 Oklahoma ranks seventh in the nation for prescription pain 23 reliever abuse for kids between 12 and 17 years old in 2013, 24 and hundreds of babies born to SoonerCare members are diagnosed 25 with opioid-related neonatal abstinence syndrome each year. DISTRICT COURT OF OKLAHOMA - OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT 9 1 The pain, anguish, and heartbreak that Oklahoma families, 2 businesses, communities, and individual Oklahomans is almost 3 impossible to comprehend. How did this happen? At the end of 4 the day, your Honor, I have a short one-word answer: Greed. 5 Decades ago, the defendants and their corporate 6 collaborators rushed to fill the need to the medical community 7 created to address the fifth vital sign. Our evidence will 8 show, your Honor, that in their zeal to provide a magic drug, 9 they ignored centuries of experience, well-documented 10 scientific histories of deadly addiction epidemics, and 11 embarked on a cynical, deceitful, multimillion-dollar 12 brainwashing campaign to establish opioid analgesics as the 13 magic drug. 14 Judge, money may not be the root of all evil, but I have 15 learned this, in my nearly 40 years as a lawyer and public 16 servant, money can make people and businesses do bad things, 17 very bad things, and that is why I'm here today.