Court to review tobacco case a third time

WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday agreed for the third time to take a look at a huge punitive award against Philip Morris USA over the death of a smoker.

The $79.5 million in punitive damages has swollen to about $145 million, including interest, because the case has been bouncing around in state and federal courts, SCOTUSblog.com reported.

The Supreme Court said it would not rule on the size of the award, despite Philip Morris's request, but would look at the last ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court, which threw out the tobacco company's challenge of the award based on what it claimed was a reversible error at trial.

Philip Morris argues that the state high court defied the U.S. Supreme Court's last ruling, which threw out state court verdicts in favor of the plaintiff in 2003 and sent the case back down for reconsideration at the state level.

The case began in 1999, when a Multnomah Circuit Court jury awarded the estate of Jesse Williams $521,000 in compensatory, or actual, damages and $79.5 million in punitive damages. Williams was a long-term smoker who died of lung cancer.

The Supreme Court probably will hear the case in the fall.

(07-1216, Philip Morris USA vs. Williams)