On July 17, 2014, plaintiff Omar Bautista, 18, a student, was at the Rapto Divino Asamblea De Dios church, located at 3707 E. Laurite Ave., in Fresno, when the church’s pastor asked him to go up to the attic to replace a cable connected to the sound system. Bautista used the light from his cellphone’s screen to illuminate the attic floor as he searched for the cable he was looking to replace. As he moved through the attic, he lost his balance on a set of wooden joists and fell onto the attic’s sheetrock floor/church ceiling. As a result, the sheetrock ceiling caved in, and Bautista fell through the attic floor and landed approximately 10 feet onto the ground below. He subsequently sustained to his back, hip and head. Bautista sued Rapto Divino Asamblea De Dios. He alleged the church was negligent in its maintenance of the premises, creating a dangerous condition. He further alleged that Rapto Divino Asamblea De Dios failed to warn him of the unsafe condition. Bautista claimed that there was no source of lighting installed in the attic. He alleged that he had never been in the attic before the pastor asked him to replace the cable and that he did not know that the attic was dark and difficult to navigate. Bautista claimed that he was unable to walk upright in the attic due to the low-hanging roof and that he was forced to move through the space by squatting in a hunched-over position. Defense counsel contended that Bautista was warned by the pastor about the attic’s condition prior to him entering it and that Bautista was told to be careful and to make sure he walked on the wooden joists. Thus, defense counsel asserted that the attic was an open and obvious condition and that Bautista was comparatively at fault., Bautista was placed in an ambulance and transported to the emergency room at Saint Agnes Medical Center, in Fresno. He immediately underwent a CT scan of his lumbar spine and was diagnosed with ruptured/herniated lumbar discs at the L4-5 and L5-S1 levels, a lumbar strain, and contusions to his forehead and hip. Bautista also sustained a 5-millimeter disc protrusion at the L4-5 level, resulting in mild stenosis, and a larger 7- to 8-millimeter disc protrusion at the L5-S1 level with compression of the right thecal sac and right S1 nerve root. Shortly after his hospitalization, Bautista followed up with his primary care physician, who referred him to a physical therapist and prescribed pain medication. Bautista then came under the care of a neurologist who addressed his complaints of lower back pain and radicular symptoms down the left side of his hip and left thigh. Bautista alleged that he continued to treat his lower back pain with a physical therapist, but that his symptoms never resolved. As a result, on the advice of his neurologist, he underwent follow-up MRI’s on Nov. 4, 2014, and Feb. 12, 2015, which were essentially unchanged from the previous CT scan. The plaintiff’s treating neurologist opined that Bautista’s persistent disc protrusion would require future surgical intervention. He further opined that Bautista would require a discectomy and could need spinal fusion surgery, given the large size of the disc protrusions. The plaintiff’s health care planning expert opined that the cost of Bautista’s future lumbar discectomy and fusion would cost $109,441. Thus, Bautista sought recovery of damages for past and future medical expenses and for his past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel denied that Bautista’s would require future surgery.