Florida smoking trial verdict could set a record in punitive damages By CATHERINE WILSON, Associated Press MIAMI (July 9, 2000 3:48 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Following their decision that cigarette makers are to blame for smokers' illnesses, a jury now is on the verge of punishing Big Tobacco like no jury ever has punished anyone before. In closing arguments set to start Monday, smokers' attorney Stanley Rosenblatt is expected to specify an amount for punitive damages to be sought from the nation's five biggest cigarette makers. Witnesses in the landmark class-action case, filed on behalf of some 300,000 to 700,000 sick Florida smokers, contended that the companies could afford to pay $150 billion. The lawsuit listed $200 billion but the smokers' attorney can adjust that figure, and he hasn't yet told jurors exactly what he wants. Lead tobacco attorney Dan Webb has mentioned a possible $300 billion award, saying it could wreck the industry. "These companies have their survival at stake," he warned. Although the industry wants a punitive verdict of zero, it sought an upper limit of $15.3 billion, an amount it said represented the net worth of the companies. Circuit Judge Robert Kaye said he would not impose that cap on the jury. Any award will be appealed, and the impact on an industry already paying out $10 billion a year in settlements is difficult to assess. The case is expected to go to the jury late this week but take at least two years to move through Florida appellate courts. Given the numbers the jury has heard, the verdict could easily set a new U.S. record in punitive damages in a product liability case, surpassing the $4.8 billion judgment against General Motors last year in a California car fire. A judge slashed the award to $1.09 billion. Florida law says a punitive verdict cannot put a company out of business, and judges are required to reduce any award that would. Tobacco companies have never paid a penny in punitive damages. The jury already has decided the industry makes a deadly, defective product and awarded $12.7 million in compensatory damages to three smokers with cancer. The smokers argue the industry should be required to pay for 45 years of lies, fraud and conspiracy. The jury's decisions so far may reflect a greater willingness to accept addiction as a legitimate defense for smokers and to blame tobacco companies for their longtime unwillingness to accept any responsibility for consumers' illnesses. "The tobacco industry has been carrying on a public relations campaign for 50 years, and the centerpiece of that campaign has been to blame the people who buy the product for being stupid enough to buy the product," said Woody Wilner, a Jacksonville attorney pursuing individual smoker lawsuits. Soon after testimony began, the industry settled lawsuits with all 50 states. In the next 25 years, payments are expected to total $254 billion. The tobacco companies have argued that's enough to pay and no punitive damages should be awarded. But Robert Hirschhorn, a Texas-based jury consultant who has been recruited by both sides in tobacco cases but took none, believes jurors will hold the settlements against the defendants. "Agreeing to pay large settlements affects people's perceptions on the question of whether or not the tobacco companies are right or wrong on these issues," he said. "You don't pay out $100 billion if you haven't done something wrong, even if you don't admit it." The key tobacco defense against punitive damages is that the industry has changed its ways since attorneys general began suing in 1994, the same year the smokers' suit was filed. Liggett Group Inc. has been at the forefront, saying for three years that smoking causes cancer and is addictive. The company turned over thousands of secret industry documents that pushed other companies into the settlements in 1998, sold its premium cigarette brands and no longer advertises. Lorillard Tobacco Co. admitted the health risks of smoking for the first time on the witness stand last month. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. took that position earlier. Industry-leading Philip Morris Inc. and No. 2 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. cite public-health warnings about the risks of smoking but do not say as a matter of company policy that smoking causes disease. While the industry position evolved through the '90s, nicotine research blossomed. Although tobacco executives once likened the smoking habit to cravings for chocolate and coffee, they dismissed the idea that cigarettes could be pharmacologically addicting like heroin and cocaine. But University of Michigan neuroscientist and nicotine researcher Jon-Kar Zubieta said, "There is increasing evidence that nicotine is similar to other drugs of abuse." The concept of an oral fixation among smokers is "a commonly held view. That is incorrect. It goes far beyond that." ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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