La façon dont la nouvelle est rapportée indique clairement que c'est le jury qui détermine le montant à verser. Leur système judiciaire est différent du nôtre.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44769-2002Oct4.html
The award was $8 billion higher than the plaintiff's lawyer asked for.
The jury decision was criticized yesterday by the American Tort Reform Association as "clearly an unconstitutional award ."
"Punitive damages awarded against the tobacco industry have clearly moved from the rational universe into the absurd," said the association's president, Sherman Joyce. "When can we say 'enough's enough?'"
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021004/ts_nm/tobacco_lawsuit_philipmorris_dc_7
"We believe that this is an absurd number -- the jury might as well have rolled chicken bones to come up with the numbers," said Prudential Securities analyst Rob Campagnino said in a research note titled "Can California Juries Get Any Dumber?"
Denis