Dixon v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

In this tobacco case, plaintiff claims defendant concealed the dangers of smoking, leading to addiction and disease.

Outcome

Verdict for plaintiff.

Apportionment of fault:
R.J. Reynolds: 60%
Tyrone Dixon: 40%

Total damages: $34,723,176
Including $8.975 million in compensatory damages and $25,748,176 in punitive damages.

Attorneys Battle Over RJR's Role in Smoker's Death, as Trial Begins
Aug 9, 2018

Jury Slaps RJR With $13.5M Punitive Verdict at Trial Over Smoker's Fatal Throat Cancer
Feb 8, 2019

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Bessent-Dixon, Frances
Defense: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Verdict: $34,723,176

Judge: Donna Keim
Jurisdiction: 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Alachua Family / Civil Justice Center

Case Number: 2015-CA-002554
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Tobacco

Plaintiff

Bessent-Dixon, Frances

Represented By:
Smith, Rodney (Avera & Smith)

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Represented By:
Henninger, Ursula (King & Spalding, LLP)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

PM Session

Openings

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:13:17	Opening Statement	Smith, Rodney
01:26:55	Break
01:44:47	Opening Statement	Henninger, Ursula
01:53:27	Opening Statement	Lewis, Antonio
03:01:05	General Case Activities
03:03:28	End of Session

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:27:08	Break
01:44:03	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
03:09:08	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Henninger, Ursula	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:28:35	Break
01:52:05	Witness Cross Examination	Henninger, Ursula	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
02:59:48	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Henninger, Ursula	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
00:12:15	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
00:49:25	Break
01:02:25	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:21:20	General Case Activities		Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:29:10	Witness Direct Examination		Mendenhall, Dr. William MD	Transcript Reading
02:06:55	Break
02:11:36	Witness Direct Examination		Rodgers, Dr. Lawrence JR, MD	Transcript Reading
03:17:30	End of Session

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:03:30	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Riggs, Dr. Charles Jr., M.D.	In Person
01:01:10	Witness Cross Examination	Bell, Drew	Riggs, Dr. Charles Jr., M.D.	In Person
01:33:20	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Riggs, Dr. Charles Jr., M.D.	In Person
01:43:00	General Case Activities
01:54:42	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Hurt, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
01:59:05	Break
02:31:50	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Hurt, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
03:32:09	Witness Cross Examination	Lewis, Antonio	Hurt, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
04:10:14	Break
04:20:45	Witness Cross Examination	Lewis, Antonio	Hurt, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
04:53:45	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Hurt, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
05:02:47	General Case Activities		Hurt, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
05:08:15	End of Session

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Harris, Dr. Michael MD	In Person
00:23:47	Witness Cross Examination	Lewis, Antonio	Harris, Dr. Michael MD	In Person
00:47:38	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Harris, Michael	In Person
00:51:17	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Dixon, Tyrone JR	In Person
01:10:15	Break
01:31:25	Witness Direct Examination	Vallejos-Nichols, Dawn	Dixon, Bianca	In Person
01:47:52	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Bessent-Dixon, Frances	In Person
02:37:00	Witness Cross Examination	Lewis, Antonio	Bessent-Dixon, Frances	In Person
03:01:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Bessent-Dixon, Frances	In Person
03:04:30	General Case Activities		Bessent-Dixon, Frances	In Person
03:08:20	End of Session

APR

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

5 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Closings

9 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es) - Damages

10 Chapters

PM Session

Closings - Damages

10 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict - Damages

3 Chapters

APR

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Dixon v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:09:18	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:23:11	Break
01:42:30	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
03:02:30	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:08:10	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:31:41	Break
01:55:30	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
03:34:25	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:15	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:34:04	Break
01:57:49	General Case Activities
01:59:08	Witness Cross Examination	Henninger, Ursula	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
03:30:41	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:30	Witness Direct Examination	Leach, Eric	Raffa, Dr. Frederick PhD	Video Conference
00:34:42	Witness Direct Examination		Hamilton , Donald	Transcript Reading
02:12:55	Break
02:30:10	Witness Direct Examination		Larkins, Alicia	Transcript Reading
02:54:17	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:14:21	Witness Direct Examination	Bell, Drew	Ford, Dr. William M.D	In Person
01:39:51	Break
01:56:54	Witness Cross Examination	Whitman, Joshua	Ford, Dr. William M.D	In Person
02:55:32	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:03	Witness Cross Examination	Whitman, Joshua	Ford, Dr. William M.D	In Person
00:38:58	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Bell, Drew	Ford, Dr. William M.D	In Person
01:07:13	General Case Activities
01:27:33	Break
01:43:38	Witness Direct Examination		Jones, Raymond	Transcript Reading
02:56:33	General Case Activities	Leach, Eric
03:01:08	Break
03:11:58	General Case Activities
03:50:18	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:06	Closing Statement	Smith, Rodney
01:20:45	Break
01:31:55	Closing Statement	Henninger, Ursula
01:55:07	Closing Statement	Lewis, Antonio
02:56:50	Break
03:08:30	Closing Statement	Smith, Rodney
03:39:20	General Case Activities
04:32:26	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:06:22	General Case Activities
		00:07:52	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:03:15	Opening Statement	Smith, Rodney
00:08:10	Opening Statement	Lewis, Antonio
00:18:07	Witness Direct Examination	Leach, Eric	Raffa, Dr. Frederick PhD	In Person
00:57:30	Witness Cross Examination	Bell, Drew	Raffa, Dr. Frederick PhD	In Person
01:41:57	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Leach, Eric	Raffa, Dr. Frederick PhD	In Person
01:48:00	Break
02:02:10	General Case Activities
02:03:35	Witness Direct Examination	Henninger, Ursula	Garner, Charles	In Person
02:53:06	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:03:05	General Case Activities
		00:04:34	End of Session