Widdick v. Brown & Williamson
"The Tobacco Conspiracy Trial"
Appeals court says tobacco conspiracy case was tried in wrong location
August 13 (Court TV) --A Florida appeals court ruled Thursday that a $1 million trial that found tobacco companies responsible for a conspiracy to mislead the public was brought in the wrong location.
On June 10, a Jacksonville, Florida jury found that the Brown & Williamson tobacco company was partially responsible for the death of longtime smoker Roland Maddox.
But the appeals court determined that a judge initially overseeing the case should have granted a request by Brown & Williamson to change the trial venue. The Maddox trial was held in Jacksonville, and prior to the start of the trial, tobacco company lawyers argued the case should have been brought in Palm Beach County, where Maddox's relatives live.
That discretionary transfer request, the court ruled, should have been granted.
Maddox died in 1997, and his relatives asked Jacksonville lawyer Norwood Wilner, a frequent tobacco foe, to help them sue the cigarette makers.
The trial venue's only connection to the case, the court said, was that Wilner had his offices there.
"The plaintiff, the decedent, his widow and most of the witnesses lived in Palm Beach and Broward counties or out of state," said the court in its ruling, "No material witnesses from Duval County were identified."
Lawyers for Brown & Williamson were unsure whether the court's decision would affect the verdict against them, but it may be useful in their current attempt to have the case retried.
"We think this decision...clearly entitles B&W to a new trial in Palm Beach," said Brown & Williamson in a statement.
Reporting by Court TV's Beth Karas.
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