TOBACCO Florida Supreme Court to hear appeal of class-action case

A state appellate court threw out the $145 billion jury award last year.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
MIAMI -- The debate over America's biggest civil-court judgment -- the $145 billion jury award for hundreds of thousands of ailing Florida smokers -- came back to life Wednesday when the state Supreme Court decided to consider an appeal of the once-dead landmark case.
The high court, in a 4-2 decision, set oral arguments for Oct. 6, ensuring another long wait for a final ruling on the high-stakes dispute.
The smokers' class action was the first of its kind to go to trial in the country.
The justices did not give a reason for accepting the appeal filed by a Miami legal couple who took on Philip Morris and four other tobacco behemoths during the past decade.
Lawyers Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt argued that the high court should have jurisdiction of their case because the due-process rights of an estimated 700,000 smokers were violated when a state appellate court threw out the 2000 trial judgment last year.
Appellate ruling
That court, in West Miami-Dade County, concluded that the class of smokers should never have been certified for the Miami trial and that they must file individual liability claims against the industry -- a process that several legal experts say would take an eternity.
"Obviously, Susan and I are very gratified that the Florida Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to litigate the merits of this case," said Stanley Rosenblatt, who was participating in a three-day Miami Beach symposium on exposure to tobacco smoke.
The Rosenblatts said the Third District Court of Appeal's 2003 decision should be reviewed in light of the U.S. and state constitutions. In court papers, the Rosenblatts argued that the appellate court got the law wrong when it ruled that the Miami tobacco trial had an "unconstitutional trial plan" that led to "bankrupting" punitive damages.
Reaction
News of the high court's decision to review the Big Tobacco case depressed cigarette manufacturers' stocks. The largest, Philip Morris, producer of Marlboro, nonetheless took a positive view of the setback.
"The company is optimistic that the Supreme Court, once given the opportunity to carefully review the case, will conclude that the intermediate appellate court correctly interpreted Florida law in reversing the decision," according to a statement issued by Philip Morris.
Only six of the seven Florida high-court justices will hear the case because Raoul Cantero recused himself. The Rosenblatts sought his recusal because Cantero's former law firm, Adorno & amp; Yoss, was involved in appellate work for one of the tobacco defendants, Brown & amp; Williamson.