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RJ REYNOLDS MUST PAY $1.5 MILLION IN DEATH OF 69 YEAR OLD SMOKER
May 10, 2009
Fort Lauderdale, FL – After 1 day of deliberation, a Fort Lauderdale jury ordered U.S, cigarette manufacturer RJ Reynolds to pay $1.5 million in the death of 69 year old smoker John Sherman. The trial, the 3rd in South Florida against tobacco manufacturers, is one of 8,000 cases that have been filed as a result of the Florida Supreme Courts order for retrial of the $145 billion Engle class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff’s lawyer Adam Trop sayed, "We are gratified by the jurys decision. While we were asking for substantially more money, we knew this was going to be a difficult case." The jury obviously grappled with the fact that Mr. Sherman never attempted to quit smoking even after the tide of information shifted and the general public knew that smoking was dangerous."
Mr. Sherman was obviously addicted, and knew in his mind that there was no way going to kick the habit. It was a different time then -- the tobacco companies and their billion dollar public relations machine guiding public opinion toward 'confusion' and 'doubt' with regard to the science indicating that smoking kills. Plaintiff's co-counsel Gary Paige said. He continued, "Even if Mr. Sherman wanted to quit there were no real nicotine cesation products on the market that worked. The chances of quitting 'cold-turkey' was almost nill -- and Mr. Sherman knew it".
The format of the trial was in three phases. In the first phase, the jury determined that Mr. Sherman was in fact addicted to cigarettes after first smoking them at the age of 12. In phase II and phase III, the jurors had to determine what amount of compensation was appropriate for Mr. Sherman's death. The jury delivered a verdict of $1.5 million dollars and attributed liability equally between RJ Reynolds and Mr. Sherman. "With the courts already having found RJ Reynolds committed fraud, by law the full verdict must be paid entirely by the manufacturer," Plaintiff's co-counsel Alex Alvarez said. "You can't suppress information, commit fraud, and recklessly sell a defective product with no consequences. This verdict should be a wake up call that in our system of justice you can't put profit over safety with impunity for ever, " Alvarez said.
RJ Reynolds is expected to appeal.
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