The widower of a cigarette smoker is entitled to a new trial because a jury should not have been allowed to assess liability against him in her case against a tobacco company, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. filed an appeal in the case of Coral Springs resident Laura Grossman, who died in 1995 of lung cancer. She was 36 years old and had two young children. The family’s attorneys cross-appealed.