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" Ernst , 59 , a produce manager at a Wal-Mart who ran marathons and also worked as a personal trainer , died in his sleep next to his wife , Carol , who is the plaintiff in the case.Lanier alleges Merck downplayed concerns about Vioxx 's cardiovascular effects years before pulling it from the market because the lucrative drug was so profitable . " I did not see a myocardial infarction ( heart attack ) , but it 's common knowledge that in sudden death the heart does not have time to undergo these changes , " Araneta said.Ernst 's wife , Carol , sued Merck , claiming that the Vioxx her husband took for eight months to ease pain in his hands caused his death.In later testimony Monday , Merck 's former marketing director testified that the company did not study how Vioxx would affect patients ' hearts before it went on the market.In a deposition taped in March but shown to jurors Monday , David Anstice said Merck " did not study Vioxx specifically for cardiovascular outcomes , " such as heart attacks , before the drug went on the market in 1999 , as scientists decided such testing was unnecessary.Anstice also testified the company 's million-dollar launch of painkiller Vioxx in 1999 was its biggest , most important launch ever.Plaintiff 's lawyer Mark Lanier has repeatedly referred to Anstice , now chief of Merck 's human health division , as a marketing guru bent on turning Vioxx into the multibillion-dollar seller it was to replace and even surpass revenues the company stood to lose in 2000 and 2001 when patents on other lucrative drugs were due to expire.Lanier also has singled out Merck 's medical manual , which says arrhythmia occurs in more than 90 percent of heart attack patients.Merck pulled Vioxx from the market in September after a study showed that it doubled the risk of heart attack if taken for 18 months of longer.Ernst was a produce manager at a Texas Wal-Mart who also ran marathons and worked as a personal trainer.Merck fought to prevent jurors from hearing Araneta 's testimony on the grounds that Lanier failed to identify her by name as a witness by the pretrial deadline , which the company said violated court rules on surprise witnesses.The 14th Court of Appeals in Texas denied the company 's appeal of state District Judge Ben Hardin 's decision that jurors could hear Araneta 's testimony . The judge , who presided over the four-week trial that ended in a hung jury Feb. 14 , must evaluate the evidence " in the light most favorable " to the prosecution and determine whether a reasonable juror could convict the defendant.In asking for the not-guilty finding from the bench , defense attorney Steven Wells cited " unreliable " testimony from the prosecution 's star witness , Waterman 's ex-boyfriend , Jason Arrant , who said he killed Lauri Waterman with a friend on the defendant 's orders.Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins will rule Tuesday on whether Rachelle Waterman will be acquitted.Wells wrote that Arrant 's testimony was contradicted by other witnesses and noted jurors found his account unbelievable.He also contended that statements in which Waterman admitted knowing the murder was going to happen while she was at a volleyball tournament were likely the result of coercive interrogative techniques by police and not actual participation in the plot.The 48-year-old victim was abducted from her home Nov. 14 , 2004 , by Brian Radel , Arrant 's " blood brother " and a former lover of the defendant . Vioxx manufacturer Merck & Co. would then open its defense with testimony from Dr. Alan Nies , a retired Merck executive who ran the effort to bring Vioxx to the market.Robert Ernst , 59 , a produce manager at a Wal-Mart who ran marathons and also worked as a personal trainer , took Vioxx for eight months to ease pain in his hands . He told jurors the case posed the question , " Is Rachelle Waterman an absolutely cold-blooded monster or is Rachelle Waterman a teenager ? It became known yesterday that Egypt has been putting diplomatic pressure on the European governments to take a stronger stand against Israeli aggression , possibly in the hope of also influencing the Regan Administration . George Alexander was typical of his generation of actors : his father was in dry goods , and he dropped out of school when he was fifteen to be a clerk in a London office , joined a part-time amateur dramatic society , and then went into acting professionally . She said Waterman and another friend went driving around their small island town to " get her mind off " her mother 's disappearance.With her father looking on from the prosecution table , Claus recounted how Waterman asked that they stop at a nearby school so she could use the restroom . A maximum of four visitors are locked with inmates into small cubicles within a larger visiting room . Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee denied Merck 's motion , saying the company 's defense team had ample opportunity to take a deposition from Lucchesi or challenge his credentials prior to the start of the trial and had not done so.Humeston 's lead attorney , Chris Seeger , then called Lucchesi to the stand and questioned him at length about his expertise in cardiology and pharmacology , the study of drugs and their effects .