Jury tells tobacco company to pay
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Source:http://www.dailybreeze.com/,2009-10-16
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A Los Angeles jury Monday awarded $13.8 million in punitive damages in a lawsuit brought against cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris Inc. by Betty Bullock, a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer in 2003.
Her original $28 million punitive damages award was struck down by a state appellate court last year because of a judge's error on jury instructions. Her daughter, Jodie Bullock, is now the plaintiff.
Betty Bullock sued Philip Morris in April 2001, seeking to recover damages for injuries based on allegations of product liability and fraud. A jury in September 2002 found the tobacco company liable and awarded her $850,000 in compensatory damages.
Philip Morris also was directed in 2002 to pay the elder Bullock $28 billion, but that award was later reduced to $28 million and then thrown out altogether last year after a panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the judge in the first trial failed to give a necessary jury instruction.
Betty Bullock, who smoked Philip Morris products Marlboro and Benson & Hedges 100s, died of lung cancer in February 2003 at age 64. She was living with her daughter in Newport Beach when she died.
Jodie Bullock's lawyer, Michael Piuze, told jurors during his closing that Philip Morris makes cigarettes that are every bit as addictive as heroin and crack cocaine and that they should award damages in the billions of dollars.
Philip Morris attorney Frank P. Kelly III countered that any punitive damages award should be no larger than what was given in compensatory damages.
Kelly also told jurors that despite the widely known dangers of cigarette smoking, Betty Bullock continued to light up over the years, lacking the motivation to quit. |
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