On July 6, 2009, at approximately 11:30 p.m., plaintiff’s decedent Pedro Fernandez and another man were allegedly attempting to rob a young couple on a sidewalk when an officer from the Los Angeles Police Department, Kenneth Collard arrived at the scene. Collard was part of a surveillance detail looking for vehicle burglary suspects in West Los Angeles. He and his partners received a number of calls that night describing two males who threatened a patron at a 7-11 store, attempted a carjacking, and committed a street robbery in the area. Collard located the alleged suspects at about 11:30 p.m., as they were attempting to rob a young couple on a sidewalk. As he stopped his car and yelled at the two men to stop, one of them ran up the sidewalk and the other, Fernandez, ran into the street. During the incident, Collard drew his pistol and fired at Fernandez, fatally hitting him twice. The decedent’s mother, Cristina Ibarra, sued Collard and his employer, the city of Los Angeles. She alleged that Collard used unreasonable deadly force, causing the wrongful death of her son. Ibarra claimed that Collard used unreasonable force since Fernandez, who was not armed but had a cell phone in his possession, was shot in the back as he was trying to run away. Plaintiff’s counsel presented testimony from two independent eyewitnesses who claimed that Fernandez was running away from the scene when the shots were fired and immediately fell as he was shot. Collard claimed that as one of the robbery victims yelled insults at Fernandez, the decedent turned, pulled a dark object from his waistband and pointed it in his direction. Collard claimed that he then drew his pistol, believing the object was a gun, and fired at Fernandez, hitting him twice. Defense counsel argued that Collard reasonably feared for his life based on the decedent’s actions. One of the defense’s experts testified that human reaction time in recognizing both the onset and cessation of a threat, as well as time to draw, aim, fire and stop firing a handgun, explained why a suspect’s quick turn can result in shots to the back even when the suspect is facing the officer when he fires. Furthermore, defense counsel contended that evidence from the Deputy Medical Examiner and a ballistics expert showed that the angles of the two gunshot wounds were consistent with testimony that Fernandez turned away quickly when Collard fired., Fernandez was shot twice and died at the scene from the gunshot wounds. Thus, Ibarra sought recovery of $10,340.37 in damages for burial and funeral expenses, as well as $794,240 in general damages for her son’s wrongful death.