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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The state government asked the Alabama Supreme Court to uphold a record $3.5 billion judgment against Exxon Mobil Corp., contending the world's largest publicly traded oil company had a "secret scheme to cheat the state out of its bargained-for royalties."
In legal papers filed late Thursday, the state's attorneys said, "It is true that the punitive damages award is virtually unprecedented, but so is the scale of the wrong to be punished and the size of the wrongdoer."
The state's legal arguments were in response to Exxon Mobil's request in May for the Supreme Court to throw out the largest verdict in state history. Exxon Mobil argued that the judgment wasn't based on facts and was unconstitutionally excessive.
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