Penalty phase closing arguments began today in CVN's live webcast of the Buonomo v. R.J. Reynolds Engle-progeny tobacco trial.
Plaintiff attorney John Uustal, of the law firm Kelley Ustall, told the jury, "R.J. Reynolds designed their cigarettes to be as addictive as possible, while targeting children, sending people to schools, knowing this was a deadly product...You will decide in this case whether R.J.R needs to be punished. That is your decision."
Uustall suggested that Todd Buonomo's compensatory damages, for pain and suffering during his life time, and for the shortening of his life, should be approximately $13M. According to Uustal, a punitive damage award of even $62M would have no effect on R.J. Reynolds' operations, and would be just a fraction of R.J. Reynolds' profits, which he estimated at $3.5M per day.
Defense attorney Steven Giese, of the law firm Jones Day, responded "This case is not a referendum on cigarettes or smoking...Cigarettes are a legal product. They are legal to manufacture. They are legal to sell...They are legal to smoke...and you can't hold Reynolds liable for the mere act of selling cigarettes."
"There is no evidence that he started smoking because of anything Reynolds did or anything Reynolds said...There is no evidence that anyone, including Reynolds, forced him to continue smoking during the 1940's. It was his own decision."
According to Giese, Buonomo selected Camel as his regular brand because Mrs. Buonomo preferred the smell of Camel, and he liked the taste of Camel, not because of any advertising or company statements. The ads might influence the public generally, but in this case there was no evidence that the ads influenced Mr. Buonomo.
CVN is webcasting live the Buonomo v. Reynolds Engle-progeny tobacco trial.