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Pastimes : All Clowns Must Be Destroyed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Efthymios H. Zacharias who wrote (24043)	4/7/2000 2:22:00 PM
From: John Graybill	Respond to of 42523

Compensatory Damage Verdict Reached in Tobacco Case MIAMI (Reuters) - A jury that ruled last year that U.S. cigarette makers sold defective products that sickened smokers has reached a verdict on compensatory damages in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit, and the decision will be announced at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Friday, a defendant said. The verdict was to be read at a state court in Miami-Dade County, Florida, tobacco giant Philip Morris MO.N said. The six jurors were considering whether the tobacco companies must pay compensatory, or personal, damages to three Florida smokers who blamed cigarettes for their illness. If any compensatory damages are awarded, the jury would then be asked to consider potentially massive punitive damages for as many as a million ailing Florida smokers. The question of punitive damages in the Engle case, named after a Miami Beach pediatrician, has hung over Philip Morris (NYSE:MO - news), RJ Reynolds Tobacco (NYSE:RJR - news) and other defendants for months, depressing the companies' stock prices with fears a huge award could bankrupt the besieged but immensely profitable U.S. industry. dailynews.yahoo.com