By Charlotte Smith
The verdict for the third hog farm lawsuit is in and another huge award for the plaintiffs has been issued. Closing arguments ended yesterday in the third trial involving the Hog Farm Industry began in the US District Courtroom located in Raleigh. US District Judge Earl Britt presided over the lawsuit involving the pork business.
The defendant in the case Murphy-Brown, LLC/Smithfield Hog Production has lost another battle in the lawsuit trails. The plaintiffs in the case are residents of Pender County living in close proximity to farms producing pigs for the company.
In the trial, Greenwood Livestock is the properties’ owners and the hog producers. Dean Hilton of Bladen County along with his partners own and operate Greenwood I and II.
The jurors came back on Friday with another huge award for the Plaintiffs in the case about odor nuisance. The total award for the plaintiffs was 468.5 million dollars. The Plaintiffs were awarded $75 million dollars each in punitive damages before the cap and the compensatory amount ranges from $3 million to $5 million for each plaintiff. There is a law in North Carolina limiting how much may be awarded in a lawsuit; therefore, the Judge will put a cap on the lawsuit bringing the amount awarded to 94 million dollars.
There were six plaintiffs in the third lawsuit.
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