Verdict reached in tobacco company lawsuit

A major tobacco company lawsuit was settled in Eighth Circuit Court in Gainesville on Wednesday.

A jury awarded Alachua County resident, Jo Freeman, $4 million in damages, after her husband, David, died of lung cancer.

He had smoked Philip-Morris cigarettes for thirty years. The jury found Philip-Morris was 60% responsible for David Freeman's death.

The same lawsuit ended in a mistrial last year, with the jury deadlocked over whether punitive damages should be awarded.