In 1980, plaintiff Craig Coley, 33, was convicted for allegedly killing his ex-girlfriend and her son two years earlier. He was subsequently ordered to serve two life sentences without the possibility of parole. After the appeals process, the trial court had evidence from the case destroyed. However, it was later discovered that a private lab had kept biological samples from the case. As a result, the samples were retested using new DNA lab techniques, and a key piece of evidence that was previously used to convict Coley was found by investigators to not contain Coley’s DNA. Instead, that key piece of evidence contained DNA from other individuals who were not named by the police that handled the case. As a result of the new finding, Coley was exonerated in November 2017. Coley sued Ventura County, and several officers and other individuals who were employed by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The individual defendants were dismissed from the case, and the mater continued against the county only. Coley’s counsel contended that the county’s employees mishandled the investigation and evidence that led to Coley’s conviction. (Although Coley’s main allegations centered on a former detective from the Simi Valley Police Department, Coley did not sue the city of Simi Valley. However, Coley did receive a $21 million settlement from the city of Simi Valley in 2019. He also received a prior settlement from the state of California after he was exonerated for his wrongful conviction and incarceration, but Coley did not have a civil action against the state either.) The county’s counsel denied there was any wrongdoing by any of the county’s employees., Coley spent 38 years in prison until he was freed in 2017. He claimed he suffered emotional distress as a result from his time in prison. Coley sought recovery for his emotional pain and suffering.