On Oct. 22, 2013, plaintiff Patricia Romero, 50, allegedly a warehouse packer, fell forward and landed on her left wrist. She claimed she tripped and fell in the alleyway behind her apartment complex, located on Magnolia Avenue, in Riverside. Romero fractured her left wrist. Romero sued the owner of the public alleyway, the city of Riverside. Romero claimed that a pothole caused her to trip and fall while she was throwing her trash away. Thus, she alleged that the city failed to properly maintain the alleyway, creating a dangerous condition of public property. The plaintiff’s street maintenance expert opined that the city failed to maintain the alleyway, causing Romero’s fall. The city denied liability, and the defense’s street maintenance expert testified that the city’s complaint-based inspection program was sufficient. Defense counsel noted that in the emergency room, Romero claimed she missed a step and fell while getting out of her car in her private carport at the apartment complex and that Romero’s granddaughter testified that Romero told her that she fell at another location; near the gate to the apartment complex. The defense’s kinesiology and biomechanical expert evaluated Romero’s , and testified that if Romero fell on the rough pavement in the alley the way she claimed, he would have expected to find punctate wounds. However, the expert opined that the were consistent with a fall on an even surface. Since the area under the car port was a smoother surface, the defense’s kinesiology and biomechanical expert opined that Romero’s injury was more likely to have occurred under the private carport as Romero exited her vehicle. In response, the plaintiff’s human factors expert disputed the defense’s kinesiology and biomechanical expert’s analysis. However, defense counsel noted that the plaintiff’s human factors expert did not have any medical qualifications and did not examine Romero., Romero sustained a comminuted fracture of her left, non-dominant wrist’s distal radius and ulna. She was subsequently taken to a hospital by her daughter and granddaughter. About a week later, on Oct. 30, 2013, Romero underwent an internal fixation surgery, where she had a metal plate placed for stability of the fracture. She then underwent a few sessions of physical therapy before stopping completely. Romero claimed that she developed complex regional pain syndrome, also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia, a chronic pain condition, causing her left arm to be completely disabled. She alleged that as a result, she can no longer use her left arm for her employment or even to drive. The plaintiff’s pain management expert opined that Romero satisfied the criteria for CRPS. Romero sought recovery of medical costs, and damages for her past and future pain and suffering. She also testified that she worked in a warehouse packing shoes and purses, but failed to present her employment records. As a result, she waived her loss-of-earnings claims. Defense counsel argued that by stopping her physical therapy, Romero failed to mitigate her damages. The defense’s neurology expert examined Romero and evaluated her for CRPS. Using the same criteria as the plaintiff’s pain management expert, the defense’s expert neurologist determined that Romero did not have CRPS. He testified that the criteria for CRPS included a difference in skin temperatures, swelling, change of nail color, etc., but he opined that Romero did not have enough objective criteria for a CRPS diagnosis, despite Romero claiming that she had all the subjective criteria for CRPS. Defense counsel presented a sub rosa video of Romero using her left arm, which, according to defense counsel, contradicted Romero’s sworn testimony. Counsel also contended that Romero had a prior history of falls and lawsuits.