Another Court Victory for PMUSA

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 11/01/2010

A Broward County jury yesterday decided in favor of Philip Morris USA in an Engle case (Rohr). The verdict marks the fifth consecutive verdict for the company in Engle progeny cases this month. "The jury found that the smoker was 100 per cent responsible for his smoking choices," said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of Philip Morris USA. "The fact that five consecutive juries reached a defense verdict shows that Philip Morris USA still has powerful defenses in these cases even though the courts are improperly allowing plaintiffs to rely on a prior jury's findings instead of proving their case at trial." "Philip Morris USA will continue to vigorously defend each individual Engle-related case," Garnick added. Yesterday's verdict came in a trial of a so-called Engle progeny case following a 2006 Florida Supreme Court decision that decertified a class action but allowed former class action members to file individual lawsuits and rely on general findings from the first class action. Recently, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals severely restricted the ability of plaintiffs in the federal cases to use findings from the prior Engle jury to meet their burden of proof at trial. Neither the plaintiff in the Rohr case nor any of the other plaintiffs in state courts had complied with the requirements set forth by this ruling, PMUSA said in a note posted on its website. Within the past month, juries in Hillsborough County (Campbell), Miami-Dade County (Frazier), Duval County (Warrick) and Manatee County (Willis) have returned verdicts for PMUSA in other Engle cases. Yesterday's decision came in Rohr v. RJ Reynolds, Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco Co and Liggett. Enditem