The widow of a lifelong cigarette smoker who died at age 36 from lung cancer in 1996 has been awarded US$23.6 billion by a Florida jury.

Cynthia Robinson from the city of Pensacola sued cigarette maker R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the US' second-biggest cigarette maker, in 2008 over the death of her husband, Michael Johnson. She claimed R.J. Reynolds conspired to conceal the health dangers and addictive nature of its tobacco products.

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R. J. Reynolds brands include Camel, Winston, Salem, Kool, Doral, Pall Mall and Eclipse. The company is based in Winston, Salem, North Carolina.

The judgment returned this Friday is the largest in Florida history in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a single plaintiff.

The trial lasted four-weeks and involved 11 hours of deliberations. The jury's verdict against R.J. Reynolds granted compensatory damages of US$7.3 million to Robinson and the couple's child, and US$9.6 million to Johnson's son from a previous relationship.

The same jury deliberated for a further seven hours before awarding Robinson the additional sum of $23.6 billion in punitive damages, according to court records.

One of Robinson's lawyers, Chris Chestnut, said his client's husband, a hotel shuttle bus driver, smoked one to three packs a day for more 20 years, starting at age 13.

"He couldn't quit. He was smoking the day he died," Chestnut told Reuters.

He later described the jury as "courageous" for awarding this massive sum.

Chestnut said jurors appeared to have been swayed by evidence of R.J. Reynolds' aggressive marketing of its tobacco products, particularly those aimed at young people. Jurors also appeared offended by the tobacco company's claims that it was Johnson's choice to smoke.

"They lied to Congress, they lied to the public, they lied to smokers and tried to blame the smoker," he said.

Robinson's lawsuit was originally part of a class-action litigation called the "Engle case" filed in 1994 against tobacco companies. A jury returned a verdict in 2000 in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded US$145 billion in punitive damages, the largest such judgment in U.S. history at the time.

That award, however, was tossed out in 2006 by the Florida Supreme Court. Robinson's case is one of thousands filed in Florida after this decision by the state Supreme Court.

That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths.

Willie Gary, another attorney representing Robinson, said the lawsuit's goal was to stop tobacco companies from targeting children and young people with their advertising.

"If we don't get a dime, that's OK, if we can make a difference and save some lives," Gary said.