Jury decides in favor of Philip Morris USA in Engle trial in Clay County..

March 31, 2011 -- A jury today, March 28th decided in favour of Philip Morris USA and RJ Reynolds in the first Engle case to go to trial in Clay County, Florida.In a press release Philip Morris USA said that this verdict marks the seventh win for the company in the last ten Engle cases tried in Florida state courts.

“We believe that, once again, the jury appropriately decided the company was not responsible for the plaintiff’s decision about whether to smoke or when to quit,” said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of Philip Morris USA. “Although Philip Morris USA won this trial, we continue to believe that the trial courts are violating Florida law and due process by allowing the plaintiffs to rely on general findings from a previous jury with no connection to the specific circumstances of these cases.”

Engle cases are a series of cases allowing individual smokers to sue tobacco companies after the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit in 2006 by the Florida Supreme Court.

Background: In December 2006 the Florida Supreme Court breathed new life into a case against the tobacco industry that had worked its way through the courts since 1994. The case is known as the Engle case (landmark 1994 lawsuit filed by Dr. Howard Engle that produced a $145 billion judgment against cigarette makers six years later). On July 6, 2006, the Florida Supreme Court cleared the path for hundreds of thousands of Florida residents to file individual lawsuits against the nation's largest tobacco manufacturers for injuries sustained from smoking cigarettes. The Court set a strict deadline for injured persons to file a lawsuit: July 6, 2007; which is one year from the date the Court issued its opinion. The Court ruled that individual plaintiffs can use previous jury findings against the tobacco industry in the newly filed lawsuits. (Cigarette Makers Face Thousands of New Florida Lawsuits..; Dr. Howard A. Engle, the veteran pediatrician who lent his name to a landmark class action suit against Big Tobacco, dies..)

Reference: Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds win another Engle case, Tobacco Journal International, 3/28/2011

Some related news briefs from Florida court cases:
Florida - First smoking case appealed to Fla. Supreme Court..;
Florida smoker wins case - awarded compensatory damages of $10,000 ..;
Florida - tobacco cases clog dockets of courts..;
Florida - jury snaps tobacco’s recent winning streak with an $80 million award..;
Florida - jury returns verdict in favor of Philip Morris USA, 5th consecutive time..;
Florida is tide turning? - 4th time in 2-weeks Philip Morris USA wins court cases..;
Florida - PM USA to challenge verdict in the Piendle v. RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris USA case..;
Florida - tobacco companies ordered to pay $2.2 million to widow of smoker..;
Florida - individual cases against big tobacco can move forward, can rely on Engle jury findings..;
Florida - jury awards smoker $21M from Philp Morris USA.;
Florida - can big tobacco survive all these lawsuits they continue to lose??;
Florida - big tobacco loses another case..;
Florida - jury awards $26.6 million to smoker's widow..;
Florida - 9 year old case, appeals court upholds $24.8 million award..;
Florida - $300 million jury award to former smoker overturned..;
Florida - jury awards $300 million in ex-smoker's suit..;
Florida - tobacco companies ask court to block ruling..;
Florida - plaintiff drops case to avoid paying legal fees for Philip Morris USA..;
R.J. Reynolds to appeal plaintiff's award of $30 million..;
R.J. Reynolds loses Florida court trial - widow gets $30 million..;
Broward County Florida jury awards widow of smoker $1.5 million...