Appeals court tosses tobacco verdict

In a sharply worded ruling, a state appeals court on Friday ordered a new trial in the death of a smoker whose estate initially won a more than $23 billion verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal, in an 18-page ruling, blasted attorneys for the estate of Michael Johnson Sr., pointing to the “depth and pervasiveness” of improper closing arguments in the Escambia County case.

“It is clear from the record that Robinson’s trial strategy was to utterly vilify their opponent,” appeals-court Judge Thomas Winokur wrote, referring to the personal representative of the estate named in the lawsuit. “In addition to accusing opposing counsel of participation in a scheme of deception, Thomas Winokur, counsel for Robinson denigrated Reynolds as an unrepentant, anti-military, criminal predator, whom the jury must fight and destroy.”

The jury initially awarded nearly $16.9 million in compensatory damages and an unprecedented $23.6 billion in punitive damages. But the trial judge later tossed out the punitive-damages award as excessive and ordered a new trial for R.J. Reynolds on punitive damages. Friday’s ruling will require a new trial on the overall issues in the case, not just punitive damages.

“This case concerns the boundaries of proper closing argument,” Winokur wrote, in a ruling joined by judges Brad Thomas and Harvey Jay. “Plaintiff’s counsel crossed those boundaries repeatedly, flagrantly, and often in defiance of the trial court’s admonishments. The depth and pervasiveness of these improper arguments compel reversal of this case for new trial.”

The case is one of thousands in Florida that are known as “Engle progeny” cases. Such cases are linked to a 2006 Supreme Court ruling that established critical findings about the health dangers of smoking and misrepresentation by cigarette makers.