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| US court dismisses smoking appeal | US court dismisses smoking appeal |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The US Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by cigarette maker Philip Morris over a $79.5m (£56m) award to the widow of a long-time Oregon smoker. | The US Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by cigarette maker Philip Morris over a $79.5m (£56m) award to the widow of a long-time Oregon smoker. |
| The court upheld a 1999 ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court in favour of Mayola Williams. | The court upheld a 1999 ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court in favour of Mayola Williams. |
| Having heard arguments in December, the judges said in a one-sentence order that they were not passing judgement on the legal issues presented. | |
| The judgement has grown to more than $145m with interest. | |
| Jesse Williams died of lung cancer in 1997 having smoked for 40 years. | |
| Ms Williams sued the cigarette manufacturer for fraud on behalf of her husband. | |
| She said Philip Morris had committed a "massive market-directed fraud" for many years - misleading people into thinking cigarettes were not dangerous or addictive. | |
| Ms Williams argued that her husband had believed tobacco companies when they said the product was safe. | |
| The $79.5m judgement against the tobacco giant was issued by an Oregon jury in 1999 and came before the Supreme Court in 2003 and 2007. | |
| On both those occasions it set aside the Williams award and ordered reconsideration. | |
| In the latest case, Philip Morris was seeking a new trial or at least another hearing before the Oregon Supreme Court, arguing that some judges had ignored Supreme Court rulings restricting awards. |