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Mealey's Tobacco

December 20, 2018
In Tobacco Trial, Jury Rejects Strict Liability Design Defect Claim

MIAMI — In a verdict rendered Dec. 17, a Florida jury found that although Benson & Hedges Light and Benson & Hedges Ultra Light cigarettes do not feature a defective design, the design employed by Philip Morris USA Inc. was negligent nonetheless (Karen Capone v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 2005-10312-CA-24, 11th Jud. Cir., Miami-Dade Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
December 19, 2018
Divided Florida Panel: R.J. Reynolds Entitled To Directed Verdict

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In a Dec. 18 ruling, a majority panel of Florida’s First District Court of Appeal agreed with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. that it was entitled to a directed verdict in an Engle progeny case because a plaintiff failed to prove that his wife relied on misstatements about the dangers of smoking to her detriment (R.J. Reynolds v. James Whitmire, No. 1D17-1986, Fla. App., 1st Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 18215).
December 17, 2018
Florida Appeals Court Rejects R.J. Reynolds’ Request For New Trial

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a per curiam ruling issued Nov. 29, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal turned away a challenge by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to a $6 million award issued to the widow of a smoker (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Blanche Fox, No. 4D17-2327, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 17054).
December 17, 2018
Connecticut Plaintiff Wins $52 Million In Longstanding Dispute With R.J. Reynolds

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Following a denial by the U.S. Supreme Court in February of a petition for certiorari by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a Connecticut federal judge on Dec. 13 found that a cancer patient is entitled to $8 million in punitive damages and $36.4 million in offer-of-judgment interest on top of an existing $7.9 million compensatory damage award (Barbara Izzarelli v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 99-2338, D. Conn., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 210199).
December 17, 2018
Divided Panel: Punitives Barred, But Compensatory Award Must Be Reinstated

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a Dec. 12 ruling, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal found that because a plaintiff’s wife’s lung cancer manifested after the Oct. 1, 1999, effective date of the enactment of Section 768.73(2)(a) of the Florida Statutes, a trial court erred in declining to apply the post-1999 version of the law, which bars successive awards of punitive damages against defendants accused of the same conduct in separate proceedings (Philip Morris USA Inc., et al. v. Stanley Martin, No. 4D17-574, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 18006).
December 14, 2018
Florida Jury Deems Former Smoker Primarily At Fault For COPD

FORT MYERS, Fla. — In a verdict rendered Dec. 13, a jury empaneled in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit Court for Lee County awarded a tobacco plaintiff $750,000 in compensatory damages but denied her request for punitive damages (Cynthia Boulter v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., No. 2008CA000627, 20th Jud. Cir., Lee Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
December 11, 2018
Florida Jury Sides With R.J. Reynolds, Rejects Engle Membership Claim

TAMPA, Fla. — Following a seven-day trial, a jury empaneled in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of Hillsborough County, Fla., on Dec. 7 returned a verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which was accused by a son of concealing the dangers of smoking from his mother (George Ellis v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 10-CA-016308, Fla. 13th Jud. Cir., Hillsborough Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
December 10, 2018
Florida Top Court Won’t Revisit Ruling Rejecting Daubert In Asbestos Case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Supreme Court on Dec. 6 declined to rehear its decision rejecting the Daubert standard and reinstating an $8 million judgment against an asbestos company and its tobacco company co-defendant (Richard DeLisle v. Crane Co., et al., No. SC16-2182, Fla. Sup.).
December 10, 2018
North Carolina High Court: Tobacco Shareholder Did Not Exercise Actual Control

RALEIGH, N.C. — The acquisition by Reynolds American Inc. of Lorillard Inc. did not create a fiduciary duty by British American Tobacco (BAT) PLC to Reynolds’ remaining minority shareholders because BAT did not exercise “actual control” over Reynolds during the negotiations, a divided North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Dec. 7 (Dr. Robert Corwin v. British American Tobacco PLC, No. No. 56PA17, N.C. Sup., 2018 N.C. LEXIS 1035).
December 10, 2018
Panel Rejects Tobacco Defendants’ Challenge To Plaintiff’s Credibility

LAKELAND, Fla. — In a Dec. 7 holding, Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal turned away claims by Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. that a plaintiff downplayed a five-year romantic relationship that ended abruptly just before his trial in an Engle progeny case over his late wife’s death from lung cancer (Philip Morris USA Inc, et al. v. John Brown, No. 2D17-3877, Fla. Dist., 2nd App., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 17548).
December 10, 2018
Panel To Trial Court: Reinstate Full Damage Award For Tobacco Plaintiff

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A cross-appeal by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in which the tobacco company asserted that it was entitled a directed verdict on intentional tort claims in an Engle progeny case was unsuccessful Dec. 6, when Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal instead directed the trial court to reinstate the plaintiff’s full compensatory damage award (Elizabeth Marsh v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 4D17-1751, Fla. App., 4th Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 17453).
December 7, 2018
Florida Panel Affirms: After Opting Out Of Engle, Plaintiffs’ Claims Untimely

MIAMI — In a per curiam affirmance issued Dec. 5, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal left intact a summary judgment that two purported Engle progeny cases are barred by the statute of limitations because two plaintiffs who previously opted out of the Engle class attempted to opt back in after the window for readmission had closed (Janice S. Tidwell, et al. v. Philip Morris USA Inc., et al., Nos. 3D17-1920, 3D17-1916, Fla. Dist., 3rd App., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 17360).
December 4, 2018
Asbestos Widow: Tobacco Company Overstates Argument In Challenging Frye Ruling

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A tobacco company overplays separation-of-powers concerns in urging reconsideration of a ruling reinstating Frye, expert testimony and an $8 million asbestos verdict, the plaintiff tells the Florida Supreme Court in a Nov. 9 brief (Richard DeLisle v. Crane Co., et al., No. SC16-2182, Fla. Sup.).
November 30, 2018
Maryland Panel OKs Bill Requiring Midnight Close Of Hookah Bars

BALTIMORE — The Maryland Court of Special Appeals on Nov. 28 rejected a challenge to a Baltimore County Council bill that restricts the hours of operation for hookah lounges, finding instead that the regulation is constitutional (Irvin M. Baddock, et al. v. Baltimore County, Maryland, No. No. 1271, Md. Ct. Special App., 2018 Md. App. LEXIS 1091).
November 30, 2018
Tobacco Companies Urge Supreme Court To Take On Due Process Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 19 petition for certiorari, two tobacco companies assert that the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in upholding the Florida Supreme Court’s mandate that courts must give preclusive effect to the concealment and conspiracy findings of Engle v. Liggett Grp., Inc. in cases that qualify as Engle progeny (R.J. Reynolds et al., v. Cheryl Searcy, No. 18-649, U.S. Sup.).
November 28, 2018
$20M Punitive Damage Award In Favor Of Tobacco Plaintiff Reinstated

ATLANTA — In a Nov. 26 holding, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a Florida federal judge’s grant of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) on behalf of Philip Morris USA Inc. on a former smoker’s intentional tort claims and directed the trial court to reinstate a jury’s $20 million punitive damage award on her behalf (Bernard Cote v. Philip Morris USA Inc., Nos. 15-15633, 16-15957, 11th Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 33138).
November 27, 2018
9th Circuit Upholds Sanction Against Attorney For Tobacco Plaintiff

SAN FRANCISCO — The due process rights of an attorney representing a lung cancer sufferer were not violated by a California federal judge who imposed a $1,500 sanction in connection with misconduct by the attorney during a 2016 trial, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 16 (Nikki Pooshs and Gilbert L. Purcell v. Philip Morris USA Inc., et al., No. 16-15429, 9th Cir., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 32507).
November 27, 2018
Florida Jury Returns Verdict In Favor Of Engle Progeny Plaintiff

MIAMI — On Nov. 26, a jury empaneled before Judge Antonio Arzola of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Dade County awarded a former smoker $2.25 million in punitive damages following Phase II of an Engle progeny case (Paul Rouse v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 2017CA017202,11th Jud. Cir., Dade Co.).
November 19, 2018
Lung Cancer Victim Responsible For Illness, Jurors In Florida Find

ORLANDO, Fla. — In a verdict rendered Nov. 15, a Florida jury sided with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. on allegations that the cigarette maker bears legal responsibility for the lung cancer death of a Florida man (Stephanie Hochreiter v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 2015CA003926, 9th Jud. Cir., Orange Co.). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
November 15, 2018
Appellate Court Reverses Dismissal For Failure To Prosecute In Engle Case

LAKELAND, Fla. — In a Nov. 14 ruling, a divided Second District Florida Court of Appeal found that a trial court’s dismissal of a tobacco plaintiff’s case for lack of prosecution must be reversed and remanded for further proceedings because the dismissal was not preceded by an evidentiary hearing to address disputed issues of fact (Estella Purdue v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 2D18-0333, Fla. App., 2nd Dist., 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 16261).