Jump to full article: North County (CA) Times, 2007-04-25
Author: BILL HETHERMAN - North County Times wire services
Intro: A Los Angeles judge today began pondering just how much evidence a lawyer needed to present to a jury to prove a 15-year-old boy's wrongful death case against a tobacco giant on behalf of his father.
Dylan Boeken's father, Richard Boeken, made headlines in 2001 when he won a $3 billion judgment against Philip Morris USA Inc. -- a sum subsequently cut to $55 million.
Richard Boeken died in January 2002 at age 57, seven months after the verdict in his case. The disease had spread to his spine and brain.
Boeken's widow, Judy, and son filed a wrongful death case against Philip Morris on June 2.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David L. Minning issued a nine-page ruling in February in which he threw out Judy Boeken's claims entirely, but gave her son a chance to revise his complaint.
The lawsuit was modified, and the boy's lawsuit is set for trial Oct. 29.
Dylan Boeken's lawyer, Michael J. Piuze, maintains most of the issues in the case were decided in the first trial. He said the jury should only have to determine if Boeken died of lung cancer and, if so, what his son's damages are.
Philip Morris wants a complete trial on all the issues.
Minning did not make a final ruling today and took the case under submission.
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