Dr. Ronald Gup, a pulmonologist who diagnosed Virginia Varner with cancer and COPD, under cross-exam. 

Fort Lauderdale, FL — A pulmonologist who treated a woman who smoked up to two packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years testified he would consider such a smoker, “by definition,” addicted to nicotine, as trial over the woman's fatal cancer continued against the nation’s largest cigarette manufacturers. Varner v. R.J. Reynolds.

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. 

Plaintiff's attorney Nick Rowley delivers his closing argument. Click here to see video from the trial. 

Bakersfield - The Kern County School District reached a $10.5 million settlement on Wednesday with a student who suffered a traumatic brain injury at a rowdy football rally during the second day of a damages trial after jurors found the school district 100 percent liable for the student’s injuries.

 UPDATE: The jury returned a verdict in the plaintiff's favor on Monday evening, and the trial will now proceed to a damages phase. 

Bakersfield - In what is likely a first at a trial in an American courtroom, a plaintiff’s attorney on Monday delivered a portion of his closing argument wearing a full-sized chicken costume in a lawsuit filed by a former high school student who claims he suffered a brain injury, when he was attacked at a rowdy football rally while wearing a similar outfit.