Denton v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

985 F. Supp. 2d 1331, 2013 WL 6152364, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166383
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedNovember 22, 2013
DocketCase No. 3:09-cv-10036-WGY-JBT
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 985 F. Supp. 2d 1331 (Denton v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denton v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 985 F. Supp. 2d 1331, 2013 WL 6152364, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166383 (M.D. Fla. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WILLIAM G. YOUNG,10 District Judge.

This cause comes before the Court on the plaintiffs motion for a new trial filed September 5, 2012. PL’s Mot. New Trial (“Mot.”), ECF No. 212. The plaintiff, Robert Denton (“Mr. Denton”), as personal representative of the Estate of Linda Denton, requests a new trial in this tobacco wrongful death case based on an alleged inconsistency in the jury verdict. In the alternative, Mr. Denton argues that even if the verdict can be read consistently, the verdict was against the great weight of the evidence. The defendants R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (“Reynolds”) and Philip Morris USA, Inc. (“Philip Morris”) (collectively, “Defendants”) respond that the verdict is consistent and supported by the evidence, and that any inconsistency was invited by Mr. Denton. Upon review of the parties’ submissions, the relevant portions of the record, and the applicable law, the Court rules as follows.

1. BACKGROUND

In order to resolve the many issues presented here, some background on this case and the federal “Engle progeny” cases is necessary. Mr. Denton brought this wrongful death lawsuit against Reynolds and Philip Morris on behalf of his wife Linda’s (“Mrs. Denton”) estate and survivors. Second Am. Compl., ECF No. 22. Mr. Denton claimed that his wife developed lung cancer and died as a result of her addiction to cigarettes manufactured by Reynolds and Philip Morris. See Joint Pretrial Statement 1-2, ECF No. 87. Mr. Denton sought compensatory and punitive damages on claims for strict liability, negligence, fraud by concealment, and conspiracy to commit fraudulent concealment.1 Id. at 2.

This case is one of the thousands of “Engle progeny” lawsuits for damages resulting from the injuries or deaths of individual smokers allegedly caused by smoking cigarettes. The cases are called “Engle progeny cases” because they have their genesis in the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion in Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So.2d 1246 (Fla.2006). In December 2006, the Florida Supreme Court decertified a class of smokers and their representatives, but gave the members of the decertified class one year in which to file individual lawsuits.2 Id. at 1277. As a result, several thousand Engle progeny claims were filed in or removed to this [1335]*1335Court in late 2007 and early 2008. Though initially filed as several multiplaintiff cases, on May 13, 2009, the Court severed the claims into thousands of individual cases, May 13 Order, ECF No. 1-8, of which this case is one. The cases were stayed on October 29, 2010, and largely remain stayed. Oct. 29 Order, ECF No. 1-7. On December 22, 2010, the Court lifted the stay on twelve cases, including this case, and activated them for discovery and trial. First Omnibus Engle Order 1, In re: Engle Cases, 3:09-cv-10000-J-32JBT (“Master Docket”), ECF No. 42.

The Court eventually set this case for trial on July 23, 2012, with jury selection to begin the following day. Order Scheduling Trial, ECF No. 118; Minute Entry, ECF No. 154. In its order scheduling trial, the Court instructed the parties to confer and file joint proposed jury instructions and verdict forms based on a set used in a previous federal Engle progeny trial and to note any additions, modifications, or objections. Order Scheduling Trial ¶ 6.

On July 10, 2012, the parties jointly submitted proposed jury instructions and a verdict form based on those used in Gollihue v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 3:09-cv-10530-J-37JBT (“Gollihue Docket”), ECF No. 131, which had been tried in February 2012. Joint Submission Phase I Jury Instructions & Verdict Form Pursuant Ct.’s June 7, 2012 Order Scheduling Trial (“Proposed Jury Instructions”), ECF No. 133. As instructed, the parties objected only to proposed additions and modifications and did not object on grounds already decided in Gollihue or earlier federal Engle progeny cases, as the Court deemed those objections preserved.3 Proposed Jury Instructions 1-3.

The proposed verdict form included, after interrogatories on Mrs. Denton’s strict liability, negligence, fraudulent concealment and conspiracy to commit fraudulent concealment claims, a special interrogatory that asked the jury to allocate fault between Mrs. Denton and any defendant against which it had found on any of Mr. Denton’s claims. Id. at 59-60. With the exception of name and number changes, the same interrogatory was used in Gollihue. Compare id. with Phase I Verdict 3, Gollihue Docket, ECF No. 132. Other than rejecting a change proposed by Reynolds that is not relevant here, the Court adopted the interrogatory without specific objection in this case. Trial Tr. vol. 6, 122, July 31, 2012 (morning), ECF No. 198; see Verdict, ECF No. 187; Proposed Jury Instructions 60. The interrogatory in the final verdict form provided:

7. State the percentage of any fault which was a legal cause of Mrs. Denton’s death that you charge to:
Linda Denton _%
Philip Morris USA Inc. _%
_% Reynolds Tobacco Company
TOTAL MUST BE 100%
[1336]*1336If you did not charge any Defendant with any percentage of responsibility, you should not proceed further except to date and sign this verdict form and return it to the courtroom. If you did charge one or both Defendants with some percentage of responsibility, please proceed to Question 8.

Verdict 3, ECF No. 187.

Though this interrogatory came from Gollihue, it was not the result of a joint submission in that case. The parties there submitted a joint pretrial statement that included different verdict forms from plaintiff and defendants, including different versions of a special interrogatory on fault allocation. Joint Submission Proposed Jury Instructions & Verdict Form (“Joint Proposed Instructions”), Gollihue Docket, ECF No. 96-12. The plaintiff submitted a fault allocation interrogatory that did not include any “stop instruction” after it. Id. at 332. The fault allocation interrogatory defendants proposed contained different language, including a stop instruction identical to the one eventually adopted. Id. at 341. The defendants argued that the stop instruction was essential. Id. at 336. Other than proposing an alternative interrogatory, however, the plaintiff in Gollihue did not specifically object to the inclusion of a stop instruction in this interrogatory.

After those submissions, the court in Gollihue fashioned proposed jury instructions and a verdict form and held a charge conference to hear argument. Trial Tr. vol. 8, 4-79, Feb. 16, 2012 (morning), Gollihue Docket, ECF No. 149. Neither side objected to the fault allocation interrogatory proposed by the court. A version of the interrogatory that included the stop instruction was ultimately given to the jury-in Gollihue, Verdict, Gollihue Docket, ECF No. 132, and served as the basis for the interrogatory used here.

Jury selection began in the case at bar on July 24, 2012. Minute Entry, ECF No. 160. Trial continued for the next five court days.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In re Engle Progeny Cases
53 F. Supp. 3d 591 (E.D. New York, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
985 F. Supp. 2d 1331, 2013 WL 6152364, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/denton-v-rj-reynolds-tobacco-co-flmd-2013.