Those Big Tobacco guys are at it again.

Do they not care for Florida juries, Florida judges, or the Florida Supreme Court? At the least, Big Tobacco does not like the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in the “Engle” cases. These cases stem from a class, which was decertified by the Florida Supreme Court.

Big Tobacco just suffered yet another loss in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; where a jury, after hearing evidence, was apparently so outraged by the past conduct of Big tobacco they rendered a $20 million verdict for punitive damages against the tobacco companies. This was a case involving a 50 year smoker who died of lung cancer. The jury awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and assessed one third responsibility for his death against Mr. Cohen himself.

The tobacco companies are on a losing streak with juries who are permitted to hear even a small capsule of their history of conduct in marketing, manipulating and chemically engineering cigarettes. After this verdict on behalf of Mr. Cohen, Phillip Morris issued statements, which now have become the “party line” mantra and could simply be tape recorded and played after every trial they lose:

“We will seek further review of this verdict because this jury was allowed to rely on findings by a prior jury that are totally unrelated to the individual smoker in this case in violation of Florida law and due process.”

Let’s take a look at these “findings by a prior jury” about which Big Tobacco is so worked up. The findings they do not like and apparently feel are unfair, were actually set forth by the Florida Supreme Court after review of trial transcripts and other records involved in the “Engle” trials that went on over two years:

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As thousands of Post-Engle cases wind their way through the Florida court system, Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, Lorillard and Liggett & Myers are facing daily challenges.  After years of priding themselves on winning most of  the lawsuits filed against them through historic “scorched earth” tactics, it appears that those days are over (and perhaps it is time for Big Tobacco to rewrite that old playbook).

Here are just a few of the highlights for the past week:

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In Alachua County, located in the middle of the Sunshine State, a jury heard evidence from Big Tobacco in defense of deceased smoker. They rendered verdicts totaling $16 million against Big Tobacco.

The jury did not believe Big Tobacco.

The spin, the deceit, or the rewriting history apparently did not help Big Tobacco.

Amanda Jean Hall sued Big Tobacco because cigarettes hopelessly addicted her husband, Arthur, and cigarette smoking led to cancer in as many as five areas of his body. Cigarettes killed Arthur Hall.

Dennis Murphy, one of Big Tobacco’s lawyers, told the jury: “The case is not about whether smoking can be addictive,” he said. “It can be.  But not everyone who smokes becomes addicted.”

What Mr.Murphy left out is the history of Big Tobacco telling Americans that smoking was NOT addictive. When they now need to be honest, they “spin” the truth.

Mr. Murphy told jurors that “the conduct of RJ Reynolds had no effect on Mr. Hall”.

So, producing the “best drug delivery system ever invented”; denying cigarettes are addictive; denying that cigarettes cause cancer; producing ads that romanticized smoking; all the other outrageous conduct on the part of Big Tobacco; Mr. Murphy maintains none of that “had any effect” on Mr. Hall.

The jurors heard all Big Tobacco’s evidence, but they apparently did not accept the spin, the the manipulation or the Big Tobacco’s revisions on history.

The jurors delivered a verdict which probably went something like: we find on behalf of the plaintiffs in the amount of $3.5 million in human damages and $12.5 million in punitive damages.

Things were bound to get hot for Big Tobacco in Florida. Our juries have good noses for “spin”.

Ya gotta love those guys at Big Tobacco. Deny, deny, deny. If that doesn’t work, spin, spin, spin. If that doesn’t work, try reinventing history.

In Florida, jurors have been hearing the truth about Big Tobacco antics over the years; and deny, spin, and lies is no longer working for them.

Thousands of smoking victims were required to file individual lawsuits against the Big Tobacco companies a couple of years ago, after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Engle case. Much to the chagrin of Big Tobacco, those cases are going to trial and Florida judges are trying their level best to allow sick and dying victims the opportunity to pursue justice in court.

Big Tobacco does not want anyone to know about the things they have been doing for 70 years.

They do not want jurors to see the memos talking about cigarettes being the single best drug delivery system ever invented; all the while Big Tobacco was denying that cigarettes were addictive.

Big Tobacco does not want jurors to see the memos where they analyzed the “youth market”. Where they discussed “the real need to become more aggressive against young adult males in major metro markets”. Big Tobacco does not want the light of day to see the studies where they discussed strategies for increasing their market shares with “14-15, 16-17, 18-20 age segments”.

Big Tobacco is desperate to deny jurors the opportunity to see the decades of publications in which Big Tobacco repeatedly told the public that smoking cigarettes was not addictive; smoking cigarettes was not dangerous to your health; and, in fact, smoking cigarettes was actually healthy for you.

Big Tobacco keeps losing trial, after trial, after trial; because once an unbiased public sees the truth, the written evidence, of Big Tobacco’s decade’s long campaign of deceit and irresponsibility, good and honest citizens can reach only one conclusion:

We find in favor of the plaintiff…

You have to love Big Tobacco.  Nothing gets them down – no sir! They can cry foul with the best of ‘em; even when they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

First, a jury sees through their smoke and mirrors in a trial down in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. The jury finds in favor of a plaintiff who has and continues to suffer from COPD; awarding over $300 million dollars. We know the jury saw through their smoke and mirrors because they hammered Big Tobacco with over $260 million in punitive damages.

If anyone sees the evidence setting forth the conduct of Big Tobacco over the last several centuries, you can not help but be surprised and outraged that an industry has been allowed to get away with the type of conduct they have displayed.

The response to the verdict by Philip Morris? It was interesting:

“From the beginning, this case was marked by a fundamentally unfair and unconstitutional trial plan that allowed the jury to rely on findings by a prior jury that have no connection to the plaintiff.”

Was the prior jury’s findings wrong? They do not say so.

How was the trial plan “fundamentally unfair and unconstitutional”? Simply because the jury was permitted to hear the findings of a prior jury?

So what has gotten Big Tobacco’s “goat”? They do not like that a higher court has made findings they are, well, “uncomfortable” with. A higher court that has quite clearly set forth things like:

• Smoking cigarettes causes disease, including cancers, COPD, and heart disease
• Nicotine in cigarettes is addictive
• Big Tobacco placed cigarettes on the market that were defective
• Big Tobacco placed cigarettes on the market that were unreasonably dangerous
• Big Tobacco concealed or omitted material information about cigarette dangers (think lie here)
• Big Tobacco issued false or misleading information about the dangers of cigarette smoking
• Big Tobacco concealed or omitted information about the addictive nature of cigarettes
• Big Tobacco was negligent in its mnanufacture of cigarettes

Now, Big Tobacco is in a lather that jurors understand they lied to the American public. Big Tobacco can not believe that jurors actually listened to the large amount of evidence that illustrates their campaign to hopelessly addict people to cigarettes and the continued campaign to keep smokers addicted.

After all, when the “seven dwarves” testified in front of congress, they swore under oath that nicotine was not addictive. Big Tobacco simply can not believe we did not believe them. After all, they swore!

A message to Big Tobacco: get over yourselves; the public understands you lied and schemed to addict Americans to a drug more addictive and destructive than most “illegal drugs” we spend billions fighting to keep out of our society. And, Big Tobacco, the public understands you paid good money to be allowed to market your drug. Oh yeah, Big Tobacco, after making billions and billions on the scheme….it is in fact time to pay the price for decades of deception!

Today, a Broward county jury delivered a verdict against Big Tobacco that should have sent a message. When jurors in good faith hear the evidence of misconduct, fraud, and deception practiced by the tobacco industry for decades, jurors are willing to render a verdict that relates to the egregious nature of that misconduct.

Jurors today found against Big Tobacco in a verdict including over $240 million in punitive damages. These are damages intended to punish the defendant for conduct the jury must have considered to be significantly bad.

Thanks to jurors who take time from their own lives, listen to evidence and render a verdict in good faith.