In July 2012, plaintiff Jermaine Padilla, 30, a man with a history of mental illness, was placed in the Mental Health Crisis Bed Unit at California State Prison, Corcoran, in Kings County. While there, Padilla refused to take his psychotropic medications for several weeks. Subsequently, on July 24, 2012, Padilla’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ernest Wagner, ordered that Padilla be medicated against his will. As a result, custody staff initiated a cell extraction, during which a 46-ounce pepper gas canister was emptied onto a naked Padilla while he was inside his cell. When Padilla still failed to follow the procedure to have his hands cuffed, three more cans of 12-ounce pepper spray were shot onto Padilla by the officers. Padilla was then pulled out of his cell and tied down to a gurney, where he remained for 72 hours without being decontaminated from the pepper spray. Although the prison system’s program guide recommends that patients who are unresponsive to treatment be transferred to an out-of-prison state hospital, Padilla remained in the Corcoran unit for 45 days. Padilla sued his treating psychiatrist, Wagner; the secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Jeffrey Beard; the director of adult institutions for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Michael Stainer; the acting warden of California State Prison, Corcoran, Dave Davey; supervisors Connie Gipson and Sabrina Johnson; custody officers Jenna Castro, Mark Drew, and Michael Robicheaux; and officers M. Godina, R. Pruneda, R. Martinez, J. Acevedo, C. Garcia, E. Silva, P. Holguin, J. Soa, P. LaClaire, C. Solis, J. Kaiser, D. Overley, and Anthony Baer. Padilla alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted inadequate medical and mental health treatment in violation of the Eighth Amendment, excessive force, failure to protect, and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Several of the defendants were dismissed from the case during the course of litigation. Thus, the matter continued against supervisors Stainer, Gipson, and Johnson, and custody officers Castro, Drew, and Robicheaux. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Padilla was in the Mental Health Crisis Bed Unit, medical staff failed to refer Padilla to a hospital setting, as required under prison regulations, and failed to initiate involuntarily medication, which caused Padilla’s mental health to deteriorate. Counsel contended that as a result, Padilla was incapable of complying with orders due to his mental illness. Plaintiff’s counsel presented a video of the cell extraction, which showed Padilla screaming and crying for help, and showed that Padilla, although non-compliant, was not hostile or aggressive. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asserted that prison doctors waited too long to involuntarily medicate Padilla and that Padilla should have been moved to a state mental hospital sooner, before his eventual transfer. Defense counsel contended that Padilla had received appropriate treatment and supervision while in the Mental Health Crisis Bed Unit and that Padilla had stopped taking his medications weeks before the incident. Counsel also contended that on the subject date, Padilla had flooded his cell with water and had smeared himself with, as well as eaten, his own feces. Defense counsel disputed whether the officers used excessive force, and asserted that the restraints were required, as Padilla was too impaired psychiatrically., Padilla is no longer a prisoner, but he claimed he suffers from emotional distress as a result of the incident. The plaintiff’s psychiatry and use-of-force experts both reviewed the care Padilla received and would have testified about whether the mental health care that Padilla received was adequate. They also would have testified as to the psychiatric impact uses of force would have caused on a person with mental illness. Thus, Padilla sought recovery for his emotional pain and suffering, as well as sought recovery of punitive damages. Defense counsel denied that prison staff acted with malice, oppression, evil intent, or in reckless disregard for Padilla’s rights.