A Florida jury awarded more than $50 million to Marvel Entertainment's former CEO and his wife over the surreptitious collection of her DNA in an attempt to falsely link her to an anonymous hate letter campaign, finding a neighbor and an insurance company attorney conspired against the couple.

After a three-week trial in the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, a jury deliberated for approximately three hours on Friday before finding Harold Peerenboom and attorney William Douberley liable for conspiring against former Marvel CEO Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter and his wife, Laura.

The jury found Peerenboom and Douberley liable for engaging in a conspiracy to commit conversion and abuse of process against the Perlmutters and found Peerenboom liable for defamation. Josh Dubin of Joshua E. Dubin, Esq. PA, told Law360 Saturday that this case should serve as a cautionary tale to those who wish to abuse the collection of someone else's DNA, which he said is considered the "holy grail" of forensic science.

"The Perlmutters deserved to get justice from the jury and that's what they got," Dubin said. "When you pervert such a sacred discipline of forensic science like this, there should be consequences."

The feud erupted in 2012 after the firing of Peerenboom's business partner, David Smith, who was the vice president of Mandrake, Peerenboom's executive recruitment firm, court records show. After getting fired, Smith allegedly distributed anonymous letters to residents in the Palm Beach, Florida neighborhood of Sloan's Curve, accusing Peerenboom of sexual assault and murder.

In an effort to find out who was behind the hate mail, Peerenboom collected the DNA from the letters and settled on Ike Perlmutter, who Peerenboom perceived as an enemy from an unrelated case.

Peerenboom's problems with Perlmutter allegedly stemmed from the operation of a tennis court in Sloan's Curve and claimed Perlmutter sent damaging anonymous letters sent to friends, family, colleagues and clients in Toronto.

Douberley was the attorney assigned by a Chubb insurance affiliate to represent Peerenboom in the unrelated case.

During a deposition in the unrelated case, Dubin said Peerenboom and Douberley had a retired crime scene technician collect the Perlmutters' DNA from water bottles. Dubin added that the technician didn't identify himself at the deposition and duped the Perlmutters into inadvertently handing over their DNA.

Peerenboom brought a state court lawsuit against the Perlmutters in 2013. Results of the DNA testing excluded the Perlmutters, who then brought a 2016 counterclaim alleging conspiracy against Peerenboom and Douberley, court records show. The complaint also states that Peerenboom lied to news reporters, who published stories falsely implicating the Laura Perlmutter's connection to the anonymous letters.

In December 2019, 15th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Cymonie Rowe determined Peerenboom the deposition for the purpose of collection the Perlmutters' DNA. In 2021, Peerenboom's lawsuit was tossed.

On Laura Perlmutter's defamation claim against Peerenboom, the jurors awarded her $50 million alone. Dubin told Law360 that he asked for $10 in damages on the conspiracy to engage in conversion count, although the jurors awarded $11 instead.

Jurors awarded Ike and Laura Perlmutter $16,000 in damages for the abuse of process-related counts.

The Perlmutters included a claim for punitive damages in their countersuit, although the claim was removed by Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal. The punitive damages claim went before the Florida Supreme Court, which held oral arguments in October. An opinion has yet to be released.

Dubin told Law360 that if the Florida Supreme Court rules in favor of the Perlmutters, a separate trial could happen on the punitive damages claim.

The Perlmutters' experience in this case led them to establish The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice at Cardozo School of Law, according to Dubin, who is the center's executive director. Cardozo is the law school where The Innocence Project was founded and where Dubin worked pro bono before the Perlmutter case.

Jordan S. Cohen of Wicker Smith O'Hara McCoy & Ford PA, representing Peerenboom, told Law360 in an emailed statement on Monday that an appeal may be forthcoming.

"While we continue to have the utmost faith in the jury system, we take issue with their verdict on the defamation claim where they were invited into error and rendered a verdict unsupported by the evidence presented at trial," Cohen said. "We do not litigate matters in the press and will reserve our post-verdict and appellate arguments for the courts."

Counsel for Douberley did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment Monday.

The Perlmutters are represented by Josh Dubin and Gregory C. Wyckoff of Joshua E. Dubin, Esq. PA and Jared Lopez of Black Srebnick.

Peerenboom is represented by Jordan S. Cohen, Ethan A. Arthur and Victoria N. Sosa of Wicker Smith O'Hara McCoy & Ford PA and Manuel Kushner of the Manuel Kushner Law Firm PLLC.

Douberley is represented by Steven J. Rothman, Travis J. Foels and Danielle L. Jakeman of Jones Foster PA, Dina M. Contri of Sellars Marion Bachi & Contri PA and Stephanie L. Serafin and Rebecca Mercier Vargas of Kreusler-Walsh Varas & Serafin PA.

The case is Isaac Perlmutter et al. v. Harold Peerenboom et al., case number 2013-CA-015257, in the 15th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.