|
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up appeals of fourFlorida lawsuits that will force R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to paytens of millions of dollars to the families of dead smokers. The cases, part of a flood of tobacco litigation moving throughFlorida's courts, were the first of their kind to reach the SupremeCourt. One of the cases involved a $28.3 million judgment in anEscambia County case, while another totaled $15.75 million in anAlachua County case. John Mills, an attorney who worked on the $15.75 million casestemming from the death of Arthur Hall, described R.J. Reynolds'appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court as a "last gasp." While thecompany could seek a rehearing, Mills said that has little chanceof success. "As to whether these judgments have to be paid, it's over, it'sfinal,' he said. Robert Peck, a Washington attorney who represented plaintiffs inthe Supreme Court in two of the cases, said justices did notexplain their reasons for turning down the appeals. That leaves questions about how the decisions could affectthousands of other Florida sick-smoker cases that have become knownas the "Engle progeny" cases. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that such cases should beheard individually instead of as a class action. But the rulingalso established critical findings that could be used in the cases-- such as establishing that cigarettes cause a wide range ofdiseases, that nicotine in cigarettes is addictive and that tobaccocompanies concealed information about the health effects ofsmoking. Tobacco companies have argued that the Engle findings are not beingapplied properly to individual cases. For example, R.J. Reynoldsargued in state court that plaintiffs' attorneys in the $28.3million judgment were not required to prove that dead smoker BennyMartin relied on deceptive advertising about the dangers ofsmoking. "The Supreme Court's decision today does not represent a ruling onthe merits of Reynolds' constitutional argument,' Jeff Raborn,vice president and assistant general counsel for R.J. Reynolds,said in a prepared statement Monday. "We remain confident in ourposition that the Florida courts' use of general findings in onecase to establish specific claims in subsequent cases violates ourbedrock constitutional rights." Jim Gustafson, a Tallahassee-based attorney whose firm has filedmore than 400 lawsuits against tobacco companies, said he expectsthe industry to continue appealing Engle-progeny cases to the U.S.Supreme Court. "They are genetically incapable of taking their medicine,' saidGustafson, whose firm, Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart &Shipley, represented the surviving husband of smoker Betty JeanCampbell in one of the cases decided Monday. R.J. Reynolds last year included what is known as an "accrual" inits third-quarter financial statement to account for thepossibility of having to pay $53 million in damages in the lawsuitsand another $11 million in attorneys' fees and interest. That cameafter the Florida Supreme Court also turned down its appeals in thecases. The most closely watched of the cases has been the $28.3 millionjudgment for Mathilde Martin, the widow of Lucky Strike smokerBenny Martin who died of lung cancer in 1995. The judgment includes$3.3 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitivedamages. While an Alachua County jury approved the $15.75 million judgmentfor Amanda Jean Hall, the widow of smoker Arthur Hall, the othertwo cases stemmed from Escambia County. In one, R.J. Reynolds, was ordered to pay $6.2 million to CarolynGray, the widow of Charles Robert Gray. The company also would haveto pay most of the $3.35 million verdict in an Escambia County casefiled by Franklin Campbell in the death of his wife, Betty Jean.Cigarette makers Philip Morris USA and Liggett Group also wouldhave to pay small parts of that judgment. I am an expert from burglaralarm-system.com, while we provides the quality product, such as emergency calling system , China siren with strobe, wireless burglar alarm systems,and more.
Related Articles -
emergency calling system, China siren with strobe,
|
