On March 14, 2013, plaintiff Rafiola Binger, an unemployed 46 year old, went to Manchester Mall, in Fresno, with her two adult children, plaintiffs Patrick Richardson and Porcha Garland. Binger was inside Colima’s Fade Shop, while Richardson was getting a haircut, when an altercation just outside the store led to an assailant firing a gun inside the barber shop. Approximately 15 to 30 minutes before the incident, one of the two security guards on duty observed two people who he thought looked suspicious in a store near Colima’s, Sports Fan. The security guard subsequently watched the assailants briefly and then moved on. A dispute then arose when a barber at Colima’s was approached by his ex-girlfriend about their common child. The barber subsequently exited the store and engaged in a prolonged fist fight with two assailants who were associated with the ex-girlfriend. When the dispute started, one of the security guards, who was on a break, received a call about the fight. The two security guards then went to Colima’s, where they were alerted that the assailants had fled. The security guards interviewed the barber and then left to find the assailants. However, after they left, the security guards allegedly heard gunshots fired into Colima’s. As a result, a security guard called 911, and two Fresno police officers, who were parked outside the Sears’ location of the mall, arrived at the scene. It was discovered that Binger had sustained a gunshot wound to her lower back, resulting in paraplegia and other related . Binger, Richardson and Garland sued the owners and operators of Manchester Mall, Omninet Capital, LLC, Omninet Properties Manchester Center, LLC, and U.S. Properties Group, LLC. Binger and her children alleged that the defendants were negligent in failing to provide proper security and that the defendants breach the duty of care to protect them. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that on the date of the incident, only two mall security guards employed by Omninet were on duty at Manchester Mall. Counsel also contended that the mall’s security included a surveillance system that had at least one camera pointed toward Colima’s and the nearby Sports Fan store. However, counsel contended that the surveillance system became inoperable on the day before the shooting. Plaintiffs’ counsel further noted that although one of the security guards testified that he observed the two assailants, who he thought looked suspicious, in Sports Fan approximately 15 to 30 minutes before the incident, the security guard only watched the assailants briefly before moving on and that he claimed that he would have continued to monitor them on the surveillance system, had it been working. In addition, plaintiffs’ counsel noted that the two Fresno police officers, who were parked outside the Sears’ location of the mall, testified that they could have arrived at the scene in a minute, had they been called earlier. Thus, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the defendants owed Binger, as a patron, the duty of care to protect her from the assailants’ criminal acts. Counsel also argued that defendants breached their duty to protect Binger by failing to monitor the suspicious assailants after the security guards first noticed them, by failing to intervene in the verbal dispute and physical assault, and by failing to call 911 once the assault began. In addition, plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the breach constituted a substantial factor in causing Binger’s . Defense counsel argued that the owners and operators of Manchester Mall did not owe a duty of care to Binger because the criminal act was unforeseeable and because causation could not be proved. Defense counsel also filed a motion for summary judgment on liability, arguing that Binger was seeking to impose on the defendants a highly burdensome duty. However, the motion was denied by the assigned judge, Jeffrey Hamilton, Jr., who issued a 10-page tentative ruling on May 4, 2015., Binger suffered a gunshot wound to the left flank, causing bullet fragments to become lodged in the spinal canal at the L4-5 level. She was subsequently taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Community Regional Medical Center, in Fresno. She ultimately underwent an emergency fusion surgery with the insertion of pedicel screws, along with repairs of the veins. Binger was ultimately rendered a paraplegic from her gunshot . Due to her paralysis, Binger now suffers from neuropathic and incontinent bowel and bladder, as well as neuropathic pain, pressures sores, and bilateral shoulder pain when performing wheelchair transfers, propulsion and pressure reliefs. She also suffers from depression. Binger claimed that she is cared for by her 68-year-old mother and several of her nine children. She also claimed that she currently lives in a rental home in Central Fresno that is not handicap accessible and that she cannot fit through her bathroom door. In addition, she claimed that she cannot shower or bathe and that she has to be sponged down by her family. Thus, Binger sought recovery of $23,253.14 in past paid Medi-Cal/Medicare expenses and presented a life-care plan that includes 24-hour CNA care and has a present value of $6,904,081. She further sought recovery of general damages for her past and future pain and suffering and emotional distress. Richardson and Garland, who were with Binger at the mall, claimed that they suffer emotional distress as a result of witnessing the shooting. Thus, they each sought recovery of emotional distress damages. Defense counsel presented a life-care plan with 12 hours of attendant care provided by an in-home health aide. Counsel contended that this plan had a present value of approximately $1.2 million.