Las Vegas—Jurors awarded the widow of a Ford SUV passenger $4.5 million in her suit stemming from a 2009 rollover crash that killed her husband and crushed the vehicle’s roof.

The jury, which began deliberations late Monday, returned a verdict Tuesday afternoon finding that the roof of the 2000 Ford Excursion SUV in which Rafael Trejo died was defectively designed. The award to Rafael Trejo's widow Teresa included $2.5 million for loss of income, $1.5 million for grief and sorrow, and $500,000 for Rafael Trejo’s pain and suffering before his death.

Rafael Trejo died in a single vehicle rollover accident that crushed the roof of the Ford Excursion SUV in which he was a seatbelted passenger. Rafael's wife, Teresa Trejo sued Ford for $27 million, claiming that the roof was not strong enough to support the weight of the vehicle, which was the heaviest production SUV in North America while it was manufactured. Plaintiff, represented by Jody Mask, claimed that the roof's collapse fractured Rafael's neck, pinning him inside the vehicle and suffocating him.

However, Ford, represented by Vaughn Crawford, argued that the SUV's roof was properly designed and that, in any event, the roof-crush did not kill Rafael Trejo. Ford claimed Trejo died from a "diving injury," when the rollover crash slammed Rafael's head against the vehicle’s roof, fracturing his neck and killing him, before the roof collapsed. During closing statements, Crawford criticized the testimony of plaintiff's experts as "courtroom engineering" that ignored the motion of Rafael's body within the vehicle as the SUV rolled over. "Do you think that if some testing would have proven any of (plaintiff's) arguments... do you think you would have seen the testing by plaintiffs?" Vaughn asked jurors. "Let's not check common sense at the door when we go back to deliberate."

In his closing statement, Mask reminded jurors that Dr. Ross Zumwalt, who performed the autopsy on Rafael Trejo,testified that Rafael did not have a skull fracture or brain swelling that would indicate that his head struck SUV's roof during the rollover. "Ford's trying to sell you a diving theory," Mask said. "That's not what happened in this case."

Mask also reminded jurors of evidence that Ford never physically tested the safety of the Excursion's roof before selling it, and that Ford's computer testing showed that the Excursion did not meet Ford's roof-strength requirements for lighter-weight vehicles. which he claimed led to Rafael Trejo's death. "Ford stuck their head in the sand before the ever put this vehicle on the road," Mask said.

"If you think that a 5'4" man should be able to walk away from a 27 mile-an-hour crash, you will return a verdict for Ms. Trejo," Mask said.

The Trial: Willetts v. Acton

The Attorney: Jay Eidex (Sharon W. Ware and Associates), for the defense.

Jacksonville, FL—Jurors took less than six hours to find in favor of tobacco manufacturer R.J. Reynolds in an Engle progeny tobacco suit by the son of a 57-year-old smoker who died from lung cancer. Ken Ellis v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

The six jurors answered "no" to the question of whether Betty Owens, who died after more than 40 years of smoking, was addicted to cigarettes and whether her addiction was the legal cause of her lung cancer. Ken Ellis, Owens's son, had sued R.J. Reynolds in the Engle progeny proceeding, claiming that the tobacco manufacturer had concealed the dangers of smoking while furthering Owens's addiction to cigarettes.

R.J. Reynolds made the issues of addiction and causation, fundamental elements to prevail in an Engle progeny suit, a focus of its defense. In closing statements yesterday, Steven Geise, counsel for R.J. Reynolds, argued that there was insufficient evidence to establish that Owens's adenocarcinoma cancer was caused by smoking. Geise reminded jurors in that there were no official medical records linking Owens's cancer to smoking. Geise also noted that Dr. Ronald Wright, Ellis's expert witness, had never examined Owens personally and had given conflicting answers over the years regarding the link between adenocarcinoma and smoking.

Geise also told jurors Ellis failed to carry his burden of proving Owens was addicted to cigarettes because Owens had never received that diagnosis from a physician who treated her. "I don't know what you do with that. You can't put that on a scale because it doesn't exist. It's a burden they have, that they can't prove," Geise said.

Instead, Geise characterized Owens as someone who smoked out of enjoyment and who freely complied with her children's request that she not smoke in their houses or around her grandchildren. "Mrs. Owens told her children she enjoyed smoking, it relaxed her, and she liked to smoke. Those are the reasons she offered, for smoking. She didn't say she was addicted. She didn't say she was unable to quit," Geise said.

By contrast, Ellis's attorney Laura Shamp reminded jurors that Dr. Tonia Werner, a psychiatrist and expert on addiction, considered Betty Owens addicted to cigarettes based on a review of Owens's history and the criteria established by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Shamp then criticized the testimony of defendant's witness, Jill Hayes, and the reasoning behind her opinion that Owens was not addicted to cigarettes. "(Hayes) said she thought (Owens) could quit. That was one of the reasons she told you," Shamp said. "If that's the standard, she could quit, no one is addicted. Nobody. Everybody who testified said addicted people can quit."

R.J. Reynolds's win in the case is the second Engle progeny win in a row for the tobacco manufacturer. Last week, a Dade County jury found in favor of R.J. Reynolds in an Engle suit brought by the family of a smoker who died after suffering from years respiratory problems. Baum v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Miami—Rachel Baum’s late husband Paul suffered from a smoking-related respiratory disease for 20 years, including the last half-decade of his life that “bordered on the horrific,” Baum’s attorney told jurors in closing arguments before asking for up to $24.9 million in compensatory damages in the Engle progeny tobacco suit.

In presenting a range of damages based on per-hour calculations for both survivorship and wrongful death claims, plaintiff’s counsel Jeffrey Sloman reminded jurors of the progression of Paul Baum’s illness and Rachel’s efforts to care for him as his condition worsened until his death in 2012.

“She took full-time care of him beginning in 2003. She made his struggle better. She did everything on Earth to try and find some cure for him.” Sloman said. “When I say Rachel Baum is an angel on Earth, I’m not exaggerating.” Sloman told jurors Rachel Baum was entitled to between $16.6 million and $24.9 million on her survivorship claim or between $11.4 and $15.3 million on her wrongful death claim. Baum is also seeking punitive damages in the case.

Rachel Baum is suing tobacco manufacturers R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris Tobacco Co, and the Liggett Group, claiming their cigarette manufacturing and marketing practices led to Paul Baum’s respiratory disease and death. After recounting evidence of tobacco industry efforts to conceal smoking’s dangers while ensuring cigarettes remained addictive, Sloman asked, “Why do they claim my client is at fault? Mr. Baum’s fault in this case is that he didn’t try hard enough, he didn’t try soon enough, to quit smoking. That’s it. All the other things I just went through (are) on them. It’s what they did.”

Paul Baum, a smoker for 50 years, died from what Sloman characterized as a nearly 20-year battle with chronic obstructive respiratory disease. During his closing statement, Sloman reminded jurors of multiple medical reports that diagnosed Paul with COPD.

However, the tobacco manufacturers contend Paul Baum’s respiratory problems were actually caused by relapsing polychondritis, a rare cartilage disease unrelated to smoking, and that he ultimately died from a heart attack. Cory Hohnbaum, representing R.J. Reynolds, reminded jurors that only 10 out of 29 pulmonologists who examined Paul reported that he had COPD. Hohnbaum also recounted evidence that Paul had coronary artery disease and that “acute myocardial infarction” or heart attack, was listed as the immediate cause of death on his death certificate. In refuting plaintiff’s contention that the heart attack was related to Paul’s COPD, Hohnbaum said, “The notion that everybody dies from a heart attack… is simply not the case. Otherwise why would you even have a death certificate to tell you what people died from?”

Closings concluded, and the case went to the jury at about 5 p.m. this afternoon.

Related Information

Watch live and on-demand video of the trial.

Read Experts Dispute Whether Smoker Suffered from COPD in Florida Tobacco Suit.