William Crawford v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Summary

In this Engle progeny tobacco litigation, Plaintiff William Crawford alleged R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company of fraudulent concealment of serious health consequences that could happen by smoking the cigarettes manufactured by the company, which led the plaintiff getting addicted to smoking and caused him laryngeal lung cancer. The plaintiff started smoking at the age of 7 and was a regular smoker by the age of 15, in the 1960s the plaintiff shifted to smoking filtered cigarettes based on the assertion of the tobacco giants that filtered cigarettes were safer. The laryngeal cancer made the plaintiff lose his larynx and he could only speak by using an electro-larynx device.
The plaintiff was represented by attorneys Alex Alvarez and Randy Rosenblum. The defendant in this case, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was represented by attorneys Mark Belasic and Dennis Murphy.

Outcome

9 million compensatory
1 million punitive

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Crawford, William
Defense: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Verdict: $10,000,000

Judge: Ronald Dresnick
Jurisdiction: 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Dade County Courthouse

Case Number: 2011-14352-CA-01
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Toxic Torts

Plaintiff

Crawford, William

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

PM Session

Openings

9 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:00:40	Opening Statement	Alvarez, Alex
01:00:00	Opening Statement	Rosenblum, Randy
01:25:36	Break
01:47:05	General Case Activities
01:52:50	Opening Statement	Belasic, Mark
02:54:05	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:17:50	General Case Activities
03:19:35	End of Session

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

SEP

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Alvarez, Alex	Samuel, Dr. Roger M.D.	In Person
01:23:17	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Belasic, Mark	Samuel, Dr. Roger M.D.	In Person
01:39:24	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Alvarez, Alex	Samuel, Dr. Roger M.D.	In Person
01:45:17	General Case Activities
01:54:42	End of Session

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

6 Chapters

SEP

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

SEP

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es) - Damages

8 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es) - Damages

9 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict - Damages

2 Chapters

SEP

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

William Crawford v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:32:55	General Case Activities
00:34:25	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:32:33	Break
01:47:15	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:39:43	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:03:45	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:08:20	General Case Activities
01:33:05	Break
01:45:55	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:53:50	General Case Activities
02:56:28	Break
02:59:05	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:50:53	General Case Activities
03:53:00	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:00	Witness Cross Examination	Belasic, Mark	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:07:00	Break
01:33:25	General Case Activities
01:37:05	Witness Cross Examination	Belasic, Mark	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:33:00	Break
02:41:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:29:15	General Case Activities
03:35:30	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:12:09	Witness Direct Examination	Rosenblum, Randy	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
00:56:21	Witness Cross Examination	Belasic, Mark	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:16:51	Break
01:33:11	Witness Cross Examination	Belasic, Mark	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:41:26	End of Session

	Description	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:18:30	Break
00:32:50	General Case Activities
00:34:53	Witness Direct Examination	Henningfield, Dr. Jack , Ph.D.	Video Recording
01:24:40	Break
01:47:55	Witness Direct Examination	Henningfield, Dr. Jack , Ph.D.	Video Recording
02:50:55	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
-2:51:20	General Case Activities
00:40:40	Break
00:49:13	Witness Cross Examination	Belasic, Mark	Crawford, Mr. William	In Person
02:03:29	Break
02:09:45	Witness Cross Examination	Belasic, Mark	Crawford, Mr. William	In Person
02:23:08	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Alvarez, Alex	Crawford, Mr. William	In Person
02:41:20	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:09:44	General Case Activities	Alvarez, Alex
00:18:22	Witness Direct Examination		Heimann, Robert	Video Recording
00:19:59	Witness Direct Examination	Belasic, Mark	Johnston, James "Jim"	Video Recording
00:23:33	Witness Direct Examination	Belasic, Mark	Samuel, Dr. Roger M.D.	In Person
01:22:02	Break
01:47:37	Witness Direct Examination	Belasic, Mark	Samuel, Dr. Roger M.D.	In Person
02:25:43	Break
02:30:41	Witness Cross Examination	Alvarez, Alex	Samuel, Dr. Roger M.D.	In Person
02:49:46	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:07:46	General Case Activities
00:35:56	Closing Statement	Rosenblum, Randy
01:15:37	Break
01:28:31	Closing Statement	Alvarez, Alex
02:09:55	Break
02:21:42	Closing Statement	Belasic, Mark
02:58:41	Break
03:08:43	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:04:52	General Case Activities
		00:06:44	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:08:03	Break
00:14:51	General Case Activities
00:19:21	Break
01:05:23	Witness Direct Examination	Murphy, Dennis	Figlar, Dr. James Ph.D.	In Person
02:04:42	Break
02:31:23	Witness Direct Examination	Murphy, Dennis	Figlar, Dr. James Ph.D.	In Person
03:18:55	End of Session