On April 9, 2011, plaintiff Lauren De La Cruz, 12, a student, was running down a sidewalk while playing with her friends in the cul-de-sac she lived on, located in Diamond Bar, when she slipped and fell on a broken portion of a low, brick, retaining wall that was next to the sidewalk. The retaining wall was on a property that was occupied by tenants of their landlord, Hsi-Ping Chu. Lauren sustained internal her pancreas and small intestine. Lauren’s mother, Mercedes De La Cruz, who was acting individually and as her daughter’s guardian ad litem, and Lauren’s father, Keith Walker, sued Chu. They alleged that Chu failed to properly repair and/or maintain the retaining wall, creating a dangerous condition, and was negligent per se under a violation of a Diamond Bar municipal statute, which required property owners to keep the walls on their property in good condition. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the retaining wall on Chu’s property was in deterioration because it was missing bricks and leaning into the sidewalk. The tenants testified that they had asked Chu to fix the wall and, as such, Chu had known of the deterioration for about 10 years prior to the subject accident. Defense counsel argued that the wall was not a dangerous condition, as no one had been hurt before the subject accident. Counsel also argued that the Diamond Bar municipal statute that the plaintiffs referred to did not apply in this case., After the accident, Lauren’s parents took her to an urgent care facility, where she was treated and discharged. However, plaintiffs’ counsel noted that the urgent care facility failed to do a CT scan on Lauren. As a result, later that night, Lauren began vomiting blood. The next morning, her parents took her to the emergency room of a local hospital. Lauren was then transported to Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach. She was ultimately determined that have sustained a hematoma of the duodenum, which is the first section of the small intestine, and a traumatic injury to the head of the pancreas. On April 14, 2011, an exploratory laparoscopic surgery was performed to see if Lauren developed an infection and to see if she sustained a perforation of her bowel. During this surgery, an abdominal washout was performed and it was decided to let Lauren heal. However, her did not heal and on May 12, 2011, the hematoma was drained. In total, Lauren spent 40 days in the hospital. She could not eat or drink for one month and was, instead, fed through a tube inserted in her arm. After the second surgery and after she was released, Lauren had a few months of some lingering restrictions on her movement and had stomach pains off and on. Since she underwent laparoscopic surgery, there was no real scarring. Lauren ultimately had a complete recovery and went on to graduate to the seventh grade in the fall. Lauren’s mother, Mercedes De La Cruz, was a teacher, but she claimed she missed 40 days of work during the time she spent with Lauren at the hospital. As a result, she claimed she suffered a loss of earnings. Defense counsel stipulated to Lauren’s medical damages. However, counsel contended that Lauren would have suffered the same if she had fallen on a well-maintained wall and that the cause of her was not the deterioration of the retaining wall, but from Lauren’s fall.