BRIEFLY / TOBACCO : Florida Smoking Trial Penalty Phase Delayed

A judge refused to grant a mistrial in the landmark Florida smokers’ class-action lawsuit against cigarette companies, but delayed the penalty phase of the trial at least until Oct. 12. Both decisions stem from last week’s Florida appeals court ruling that the jury must consider damage awards one smoker at a time, not en masse. That ruling forced the trial court to draft a new game plan as it faces the prospect of conducting untold thousands of individual damage-award trials. The penalty phase had been set to start Tuesday. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Robert Kaye postponed it after one of the attorneys for Florida smokers who said they were sickened by cigarettes told the judge she would challenge the appeals court ruling. Kaye said there was no point starting the damage phase of the trial until the appeal is decided and the rules made clear. After eight months of testimony, jurors found July 7 that smoking cigarettes causes a host of diseases and that the tobacco companies conspired to hide the dangers.