Jury decides in favor of philip morris usa in first engle trial in clay county

Richmond, va.--(business wire)--a jury today decided in favor of philip morris usa and rj reynolds in the first engle case to go to trial in clay county (oliva v. rj reynolds and philip morris usa). 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.” “philip morris usa will continue to vigorously defend itself in each engle case that goes to trial,” garnick added. the 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. today’s decision came in oliva v. rj reynolds and philip morris usa.
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