William Crawford v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

VERDICT

Trial
09/18/13 – 09/30/13

Summary

In this Engle progeny tobacco litigation, Plaintiff William Crawford alleged R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company of fraudulent concealment of serious health consequences that could happen by smoking the cigarettes manufactured by the company, which led the plaintiff getting addicted to smoking and caused him laryngeal lung cancer. The plaintiff started smoking at the age of 7 and was a regular smoker by the age of 15, in the 1960s the plaintiff shifted to smoking filtered cigarettes based on the assertion of the tobacco giants that filtered cigarettes were safer. The laryngeal cancer made the plaintiff lose his larynx and he could only speak by using an electro-larynx device.
The plaintiff was represented by attorneys Alex Alvarez and Randy Rosenblum. The defendant in this case, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was represented by attorneys Mark Belasic and Dennis Murphy.

Outcome

9 million compensatory
1 million punitive

Case Information
Attorneys
Witnesses
Plaintiff
Defense
Verdict
$10,000,000
Judge
Ronald Dresnick
Jurisdiction
11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court
Dade County Courthouse
Case Number
2011-14352-CA-01
Industry
Tobacco
Practice Area
Toxic Torts
Plaintiff
Crawford, William
Defense
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Expert Witnesses
Lay Witnesses

Sessions

SEP
18
SEP
19
SEP
20
SEP
23
SEP
24
SEP
25
SEP
26
PM Session
Verdict
3 Chapters
SEP
27
PM Session
Verdict - Damages
2 Chapters
SEP
30

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

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