USVI Juries Deliver $113 Million Verdicts Against R.J. Reynolds To Families Of Deceased Newport Smokers
- Staff
- August 27, 2018
The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) announced on Sunday that two tobacco lawsuits tried this month in St. Thomas have concluded with verdicts totaling $113.3 million. The cases, Gerald v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Brown v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., were brought by the children of two deceased smokers who had been hooked on Newport cigarettes as minors, according to the release. Rare Double Jury Trials The cases were tried simultaneously, with both 6-person juries together hearing evidence common to both cases, and each separate jury hearing issues such as medical testimony that was specific to its case. These are the first tobacco cases to be brought in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the first tobacco cases tried together in this way, and among the largest verdicts achieved to date in individual tobacco litigation. PHAI President (and Northeastern University law professor) Richard Daynard commented: "We are delighted that two juries independently concluded that Newport's or...
