California Court of Appeal

In suit by cigarette smoker against manufacturer for products liability and fraud, verdict for plaintiff awarding compensatory and punitive damages is reversed in part as to the amount of punitive damages as the refusal of defendant's proposed instruction not to impose punishment for harm caused to non-parties to the litigation was error. (Opinion on remand from Supreme Court).

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/30/2008
• Published 01/30/2008

Judges

• CROSKEY, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Law Offices of Michael J. Piuze, Michael J. Piuze and Geraldine Weiss, Los Angeles, for Plaintiff and Appellant., Law Offices of Jeffrey K. Winikow, Jeffrey K. Winikow, Los Angeles;  Law Office of Barry Wolf, Barry Wolf, San Jose;  Pine and Pine and Norman Pine, Los Angeles, for California Employment Lawyers Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant., Center for Constitutional Litigation, Robert S. Peck, Washington, DC, Louis M. Bograd and Valerie Nannery for Robert S. Peck as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant., Law Offices of Holly L. Hostrop and Holly L. Hostrop, Cathedral City, for Tobacco Trial Lawyers Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant., Haight, Brown & Bonesteel, Rita Gunasekaran, Maureen Haight Gee, Los Angeles;  Law Offices of Michael J. Piuze, Michael J. Piuze and Geraldine Weiss, Los Angeles, for Objector and Appellant., Fred J. Hiestand, Sacramento, for Civil Justice Association of California as Amicus Curiae., Pillsbury & Levinson, Arnold R. Levinson, San Francisco;  Altshuler Berzon, San Francisco, James Finberg;  Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein and Robert J. Nelson, San Francisco, for Consumer Attorneys of California, Arnold R. Levinson and Robert J. Nelson as Amici Curiae., Deborah J. La Fetra and Timothy Sandefur, Sacramento, for Pacific Legal Foundation as Amicus Curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Arnold & Porter, Ronald C. Redcay, Los Angeles, and Murray R. Garnick, Washington, DC, for Defendant and Appellant., Dunn Koes, Pamela E. Dunn and Daniel J. Koes, Pasadena, for Association of Southern California Defense Counsel as Amicus Curiae on behalf Defendant and Appellant., O'Melveny & Myers, Charles C. Lifland and Marc S. Williams, Los Angeles, for California Manufacturers & Technology Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant., Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., William E. Thomson and Dominic Lanza, Los Angeles, for Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.