WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A Palm Beach County widow has been awarded over $2 million in a tobacco case over the death of her husband.

The jury on Thursday found R. J. Reynolds and Philip Morris had acted recklessly. The same jurors will now decide how much the companies should pay 60-year-old Liz Piendle in punitive damages.

Charles Piendle started smoking in his teens. He quit smoking two packs a day seven years before his death in 1996. He was 55.

Attorneys representing the two tobacco giants argued in court that Charles Piendle could have quit smoking like millions of others. They also said there was no evidence that he chose to become a regular smoker because of tobacco advertisements.