Reynolds cleared

A  Florida jury has cleared R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for the wrongful death of a 36-year-old man during a retrial, reports The Gainesville Sun.

The verdict ends a decade-long battle that initially left the company on the hook for $23.6 billion.

In July 2014, an Escambia County jury awarded Cynthia Robinson $23.6 billion after her husband, Michael Johnson, died from lung cancer in 1996. The verdict was one of the largest damages ever awarded in a wrongful death tobacco case but was later reduced to about $17 million. Attorneys for R.J. Reynolds appealed the ruling and were given a retrial.

In March 2019, the tobacco company also appealed a $14.7 million verdict for the death of a 56-year-old South Florida man. The money was awarded to the family but later reduced by 30 percent after the man was found to also be at fault.