Scott Schlesinger tells jurors tobacco industry marketing was designed to hide the dangers of smoking and led to Virginia Varner's icotine addiction and death. Varner's husband Joseph is suing R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, makers of the cigarettes his wife smoked. 

Fort Lauderdale, FL—Attorneys battled over whether tobacco industry deception or a smoker’s own decisions caused her fatal lung cancer, as trial opened against R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris Tuesday. Varner v. R.J. Reynolds.

Kenneth Reilly delivers his closing statement for Philip Morris, accused along with R.J. Reynolds of responsibility for Myra Sermons' lung cancer and emphysema. Jurors found the companies liable but awarded only $133,300, a fraction of the more than $4.7 million Sermons' son sought in compensatory damages alone. 

Jacksonville, FL—While the nation’s two largest tobacco companies were found partially liable for causing a Florida smoker's lung disease and cancer, jurors placed the lion’s share of responsibility on the smoker and awarded only a fraction of the damages her son sought. Sermons v. R.J. Reynolds, 2008-CA-000397. 

Miami—Jurors Tuesday cleared R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris of fault for the lung cancer that killed a Florida smoker. Mooney v. R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, 2011-CA-40815.

Footage from security video showing the September 24 carjacking of Shaun Sinclair-Stept at the JW Marriott Marquis Miami. Stept's attorneys seek to claim punitive damages againt the hotel and valet service in the case. Video from YouTube channel Fatmir Josias. 

Miami—A Tuesday afternoon hearing will determine whether Miami’s Marriott Marquis and the valet service it uses are exposed to punitive damages and other sanctions in a suit by a guest injured in a 2014 carjacking in the hotel’s valet lane. Stept v. Met II Hotel LLC, et al., 2014-CA-031706. 

Kevin Boyce delivers the opening statement for R.J. Reynolds at trial over the COPD death of Totsie Fleming, a smoker for 60 years. Judge John Kest decalred a mistrial in the case Tuesday because Boyce suffered unexpected health problems.