On April 25, 2010, plaintiffs’ decedent LeJoy Grissom, 27, was a passenger in a green Seabring vehicle pulled over by Culver City police for a felony traffic stop. Grissom was believed to be the suspect in the armed robbery of a Radio Shack in the Culver City area approximately 10 to 15 minutes before the stop. As a result, the police ordered him to exit the vehicle with his hands up. Grissom allegedly complied, but was shot and killed by police gunfire. The mother of two of Grissom’s children, Kandace Simplis, who was acting individually and as guardian ad litem for her two minors children, and the mother of Grissom’s three other children, Khandi Rose, who was acting as guardian ad litem for her minor children, Dajayne, Dyvonn and Deujanye, sued the responding officers, Officers Luis Martinez, Leon Lopez, Michael Fairbanks, Jeff Zerby and Derek Brown; the officers’ supervisor; Chief Don Pedersen; and the officers’ employers, the Culver City Police Department and the city of Culver City. Simplis and Rose alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted excessive force, causing Grissom’s wrongful death. Counsel for the city, and Officers Lopez, Martinez, Zerbey, Fairbanks and Brown moved for summary adjudication of whether Kandace Simplis, individually, and one of her children (K. S.) had standing to bring the lawsuit. On Feb. 27, 2012, Judge Jacqueline Nguyen granted the motion, finding that Simplis did not have legal standing to plead a claim as a spouse under California law and that one of her children (K. S.) did not have a legal standing to plead a claim as a child of the decedent under California law. In addition, several of the defendants were let out of the case. Thus, the matter proceeded to trial on the claims of Grissom’s four biological children — one of Simplis’ children (K. G.) and three of Rose’s children — against the shooting officer, Martinez, and the city of Culver only. Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the deadly force Martinez used was excessive and unnecessary. Counsel contended that during the felony traffic stop, five separate officers setup in positions of advantage with their weapons drawn and trained on the vehicle’s occupants. Counsel also contended that Grissom was ordered to open the passenger door and exit, which he did, but that once he was out of the vehicle, he was shot and killed with a single trigger-pull of an MP5 submachine gun, which released a three-round burst of bullets. The bullets struck center mass, killing Grissom. Martinez claimed that Grissom exited the vehicle and faced away from the officers in a westerly direction for 20 to 30 seconds, and then spun rapidly to his right to face the officers while dropping his cupped right hand that had something shiny and silver in it. Martinez testified that this “was the first immediate threat of death or serious injury,” and that is why he decided to shoot. He further claimed that had Grissom not spun around rapidly with something shiny and silver in his hand, he would not have shot. The other four officers participating in the felony stop, however, testified that Grissom exited the passenger side of the vehicle and immediately faced them in an easterly direction with his hands up and palms open and flat, and that they could see that there was nothing was in his hands. The officers also testified that Grissom’s hands were lowered somewhat on one or two occasions, but that when he was ordered to put them back up, he complied. In addition, the officers affirmatively testified that Grissom never faced away for 20 to 30 seconds nor had his right hand cupped, and that they never saw anything in his hand. In response, plaintiffs’ counsel noted that at the time of the shooting, 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Martinez was at the end of a double shift that began the Saturday night before, at 7:00 p.m., and had been awake for at least 18.5 hours. Counsel also noted that in the 42 hours immediately before the shooting, Martinez had only slept for 8 total hours, as he worked Friday night as well. Counsel further noted that none of the other officers shot, that no gun was recovered at the scene, and that nothing shiny or silver was recovered at the scene. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the “first immediate threat” of Grissom “facing away, then spinning rapidly to his right with something shiny and silver in his hand” never occurred, making Martinez’s use of force unnecessary., Grissom sustained gunshot wounds to his center mass and was subsequently pronounced dead at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica. Grissom was survived by four children under the age of 8. Grissom’s four minor, biological children sought recovery of non-economic damages for the wrongful death of their father. They also sought recovery of survivorship damages in regard to the excessive force used against their father.