Did the Judge Rightly Refuse Philip Morris Jury Instruction?
The dispute over the first question might seem too subtle to merit much attention in the Supreme Court – as I will explain. Philip Morris wanted the trial court to instruct the jury that the size of the punitive damages award “should bear a reasonable relationship to the harm caused to Jesse Williams” by Philip Morris. It also wanted the court to instruct the jury that although they could consider the harm suffered by others (that is, other persons who were not plaintiffs in the case) “in determining what that reasonable relationship is,” they were not to “punish the defendant for the impact of its alleged misconduct on other persons” (emphasis added).
