J.P. Farris, Judge in Major Oil Suit, Dies

The judge who presided over the major portion of the Pennzoil-Texaco trial in which a jury awarded a record $10.53-billion judgment to Pennzoil, has died at age 65.

J.P. Farris, a former federal prosecutor, died of cancer at his Houston home Monday.

However, his death will not affect Texaco Inc.’s appeal of the judgment, now pending before an appellate court, a court spokesman said.

The case was perhaps the most widely publicized in Farris’ long career. Last November, the jury in his state district court ruled against Texaco, awarding Pennzoil the largest judgment in U.S. history for its actions in acquiring Getty Oil in 1984.

Farris was forced by illness to step down 15 weeks after the trial began. Retired state District Judge Solomon Casseb of San Antonio was appointed to preside over the remainder of the trial.