Philip Morris Asks Boeken Award Be Set Aside

Tobacco company Philip Morris asked a California state judge Monday to set aside a record $3-billion judgment awarded against it to an ex-smoker dying of cancer, saying that the man should get no more than $25 million.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charles McCoy said he would issue a decision by the end of business Thursday, after hearing more than three hours of oral arguments on whether the judgment rendered by a jury last June should be retried, reduced or left in place.

In making a case for Philip Morris, attorney Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, called the court a “13th juror” that could weigh the facts.

“We think that under California law, a judge has independent review responsibility,” Starr said, adding that the bulk of the award given to plaintiff Richard Boeken was punitive damages given by a jury that disregarded instructions.

He said that the jury was inflamed by hearing about thousands of people who had contracted cancer from smoking and made an unreasonable decision.

But Boeken’s attorney, Michael Piuze, disagreed. “Did Philip Morris get a fair trial in this courtroom? Undoubtedly yes,” Piuze said.

The cigarette maker argued that the verdict should be no more than $25 million based on similar cases and that testimony from Boeken was tainted by past criminal convictions the Los Angeles County Superior Court jury was not allowed to hear about.

Boeken, 56, who has terminal lung cancer, won the largest ever punitive damages award for an individual. The jury ordered Philip Morris to pay Boeken $5.5 million in compensatory damages and $3 billion in punitive damages.