On March 9, 2016, plaintiff James Crawford, 52, a criminal defense attorney, was at the Orange County Superior Court, in Santa Ana, to counsel a witness who was considering an offer of immunity in exchange for testifying in a Lake Forest stabbing case. The District Attorney’s investigator, Dillon Alley, was assigned to guard the witness, but after an exchange between Crawford and Alley, Crawford sustained to his head and face. State prosecutors investigated the altercation but declined to file criminal charges. Alley is now retired. Crawford sued Alley and Alley’s employer, Orange County. Crawford alleged that Alley’s actions constituted battery and that the county was liable for Alley’s actions while in the course and scope of his employment. Alley filed a counterclaim against Crawford, alleging that Crawford was the one who committed battery. As a fallout of the county’s jail informant scandal, in which it was alleged that police and prosecutors misused jailhouse informants on targeted inmates, Crawford had won a new trial for a man twice convicted of killing a pregnant Fullerton woman, which contributed to the tense atmosphere at the Orange County Superior Court on March 9, 2016. Crawford claimed that as a result, Alley made a comment about defense lawyers being “sleazy” and then threw a binder clip that hit the back of his head. Crawford claimed that Alley then threw the first punch and knocked him down onto a hallway bench, where Alley punched him repeatedly. Crawford’s counsel called four witnesses who testified that Alley punched Crawford repeatedly before Alley was pulled away by other law enforcement. While some witnesses claimed that Alley threw the first punch and tackled Crawford, others claimed that Crawford was the instigator and threw the first hit. A courthouse security video showed officers pulling Alley away from Crawford, but did not capture the entire incident. Alley claimed that Crawford called him a number of expletives and started the fight by throwing the first punch. He also claimed that he punched Crawford to keep him from grabbing his gun. Alley’s counsel contended that Crawford, for whatever reason, carried a toxic bias against prosecutors, and members of prosecution teams generally, and that with a hair trigger, it did not take much for Crawford to be provoked. Specifically, counsel recalled an incident in which a judge reprimanded Crawford for calling a female prosecutor an expletive. Thus, Alley’s counsel argued that based on Crawford’s bias, Crawford initiated the assault on Alley, an officer, by striking him in the face. According to Crawford’s counsel, Alley’s counsel attempted to introduce evidence during the trial, under the pretense of Crawford’s alleged bias toward law enforcement, that, on two occasions, Crawford called two separate female Deputy District Attorneys expletives. Crawford’s counsel subsequently made a motion in limine to exclude all of that evidence as allegedly having no probative value and as having an incredible prejudicial effect. However, Judge David Carter allowed the evidence to be introduced at trial and also allowed a female lawyer to testify that Crawford used to refer to female Deputy District Attorneys as “pigs” and other more offensive terms that included expletives. The female lawyer also claimed that Crawford used to lightly elbow ladies in his office., Crawford sustained a concussion, a sinus fracture, a fracture of the orbital floor, and trauma to the head, face and eye. However, he still returned to the courtroom, bloody and beaten, and offered to continue representing the witness that he was appointed to counsel about the prosecution’s offer of Use Immunity for the witness’ testimony. Later that evening, Crawford went to a local hospital for treatment. Crawford claimed that he suffers from permanent scarring on his face, but that he does not suffer from any limitations and that he would not require future care. However, he alleged that he suffers from emotional distress as a result of the humiliation of going to court after the incident and the press coverage of the incident. Thus, Crawford’s counsel asked the jury to award Crawford “something in seven figures,” including $15,000 in past medical costs. Counsel also asked the jury to award Crawford punitive damages against Alley, as Crawford claimed Alley initiated the attack. Alley suffered a dislocated thumb, and sustained some marks and swelling on his face. Alley claimed that he suffered no limitations as a result of his and that he will not require future care. Thus, Alley sought recovery of punitive damages against Crawford, claiming that Crawford threw the first blow. In response, Crawford’s counsel argued that Alley’s thumb injury was from repeatedly punching Crawford in his face. Thus, counsel argued that Alley was liable for his own alleged .