A $5.9 million jury verdict in favor of a chain smoker’s widow was reversed and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was granted a new trial Thursday because the trial judge suppressed evidence of the smoker’s alcoholism.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the verdict favoring Thelma Aycock, who pursued a wrongful death suit following the death of Richard Aycock. She sued in Orlando federal court alleging her husband died of lung cancer contracted as a result of his addiction to cigarettes.
