By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill – Philip Morris USA appealed Wednesday a $10.1 billion consumer fraud verdict to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The company is vowing to defeat the ruling that blames it for tricking Illinois smokers into believing light cigarettes are less harmful than regular ones.
The 87-page brief mailed to the Springfield court dissects the March verdict by Madison County Judge Nicholas Byron that found the company violated the state's consumer fraud law in the way it marketed its Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights brands.
The eight-week trial in a Madison County court was the first consumer fraud trial in the nation to focus on light cigarettes.
Its resolution is expected to influence other lawsuits still in the pipeline making similar claims.
A spokeswoman for plaintiffs' attorney Stephen Tillery, who won the March lawsuit on behalf of about one million Illinois smokers, said the appeal was expected.