New Trial Order in Asbestos Case Upheld

The Mississippi Supreme Court has let stand an order for a new trial in a workplace asbestos exposure case in which a Jones County man was awarded $15.2 million.

The court denied a request from Troy Lofton to reconsider its June decision.

The Supreme Court didn’t rule on the jury verdict. Instead, the court found that the trial judge erred in allowing Lofton’s attorney to read from drilling records that were not admitted into evidence during the cross-examination of Conoco Phillips Corp.’s medical expert.

In 2010, a Jones County jury ruled for Lofton in his lawsuit against CPChem, a joint venture between Conoco Phillips Corp. and Chevron Corp. CPChem appealed the verdict.

Lofton alleged he inhaled asbestos for 20 years and is now on oxygen 24 hours a day.