Henley v. Phillip Morris 3/19/03 CA1/4

State: California

Court: 1st District Court of Appeal 1st District Court of Appeal

Docket No: A086991

Case Date: 06/26/2003

Preview:Filed 3/19/03 Henley v. Philip Morris CA1/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR PATRICIA HENLEY, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PHILIP MORRIS INC., Defendant and Appellant. A086991 (San Francisco County Super. Ct. No. 995172)

Plaintiff brought this action for personal injuries allegedly sustained as a result of defendant's tortious misconduct in the manufacture and marketing of cigarettes. The jury returned a special verdict awarding plaintiff $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages. The trial court denied defendant's motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict, except that it ordered a new trial on punitive damages unless plaintiff consented to reduce the punitive award to $25 million. Plaintiff consented to the reduction, and defendant filed a timely appeal. In an earlier opinion this court affirmed the judgment in its entirety. (Henley v. Philip Morris (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 824, review granted Jan. 29, 2002, S102941 (Henley I).) The Supreme Court granted review and ultimately retransferred the matter to us with directions to "vacate [our] decision and to reconsider the cause in light of Myers v. Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (2002) 28 Cal.4th 828 [(Myers)]), and Naegele v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (2002) 28 Cal.4th 856 [(Naegele)])." The cited cases concern only the effects of former Code of Civil Procedure section 1714.45 (

Download Henley v. Phillip Morris 3/19/03 CA1/4.pdf