Court Says Repeal of Law Limiting Tobacco Lawsuits Not Retroactive; Philip Morris Believes Ruling Could Aid Appeals.Business & Legal Editors SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 5, 2002 The California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). Supreme Court ruled today that a 1998 statute was not intended to retroactively ret·ro·ac·tive adj. Influencing or applying to a period prior to enactment: a retroactive pay increase. [French rétroactif, from Latin repeal The Annulment or abrogation of a previously existing statute by the enactment of a later law that revokes the former law. The revocation of the law can either be done through an express repeal California's limitation on claims against cigarette makers. Philip Morris said the decision could provide additional grounds to overturn three recent verdicts in smoking cases. Today's Supreme Court decision came in a case unrelated to the three previous verdicts involving Philip Morris. "The Supreme Court's decision provides an additional basis on which we will argue for the reversal of three cases now on appeal," said William S William, crown prince of Germany William or Frederick William, 1882–1951, crown prince of Germany, son of William II. In World War I he commanded (1914) an army on the Western Front and was nominal commander in the German attack . Ohlemeyer, vice president and associate general counsel for Philip Morris Companies. "We will now review those cases to determine how the Court's new decision affects those appeals - including, for example, what evidence should have been excluded at trial based on today's decision." In today's decision, the state's highest court ruled that the 1998 law repealing the state's 10-year-old limitation on lawsuits against manufacturers of inherently dangerous products with commonly known risks does not allow smokers to sue for injuries allegedly caused by conduct occurring between the law's passage in 1988 and its repeal in 1998. Philip Morris is currently appealing plaintiffs' verdicts in three cases, Henley, Whiteley and Boeken. Ohlemeyer said that each of the three verdicts was based on faulty fault·y adj. fault·i·er, fault·i·est 1. Containing a fault or defect; imperfect or defective. 2. Obsolete Deserving of blame; guilty. jury instructions Jury instructions are the set of legal rules that jurors must follow when the jury is deciding a civil or criminal case. Jury instructions are given to the jury by the judge, who usually reads them aloud to the jury. and evidentiary ev·i·den·tia·ry adj. Law 1. Of evidence; evidential. 2. For the presentation or determination of evidence: an evidentiary hearing. Adj. 1. rulings, many of which are not related to the issues addressed in today's decision. "In each case on appeal there was no credible evidence that any Philip Morris conduct prevented the plaintiff from making an informed decision to smoke or not to quit," Ohlemeyer said. "In addition, in each of the cases, the trial judge allowed the jury to overlook the plain fact that the smokers could not identify a single statement by Philip Morris that formed a basis for their decision to smoke. That fact alone should require reversal of these verdicts." |
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