On Dec. 28, 2010, at approximately 8 p.m., plaintiff Luz Castaneda, 48, a homemaker, was exiting her apartment to take out the trash. While walking down an interior flight of stairs, Castaneda tripped and fell to the ground floor, fracturing her right ankle. Castaneda sued the owners of the building, Almaron Corp., Gary Almas, Petra Nava and San Benito Apartments. Castaneda alleged the defendants negligently maintained the building, creating a dangerous condition. Castaneda contended that the automatic light for the subject stairwell was burned out and that she advised the building manager, but he failed to fix the problem. Defense counsel asserted that Castaneda contributed to the accident by not turning on her porch light, despite knowing the automatic light had burned out., Castaneda went to an emergency room on the date of the accident. She was diagnosed with a fracture of her right ankle and subsequently underwent a surgical repair with open reduction and internal fixation the following day. She then treated with physical therapy for roughly nine months. However, the fracture failed to fully heal, requiring a second surgery on Sept. 23, 2011. Castaneda claimed she still has pain, discomfort and restricted movement in her right ankle, possibly caused by the existing hardware. She alleged that as a result, she may eventually require removal of the hardware. Thus, Castaneda sought recovery of approximately $500,000 in past medical costs and an unspecified amount of damages for her past and future pain and suffering. Her husband, Carlos Castaneda, sought recovery of damages for his loss of consortium. Defense counsel did not seriously dispute the severity of Mrs. Castaneda’s ankle fracture.