On Nov. 16, 2010, plaintiff Alicia Amezquita, 54, an unemployed cook, went to La Famosa Market in Hemet. After exiting her car, Amezquita claimed her left pant leg got caught by a piece of metal rebar sticking out of a parking stop, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. She landed on her right arm, her right elbow. Amezquita sued La Famosa Market and the owner of the business, Marwan Faheem Rahman. She alleged that the defendants failed to properly maintain the subject parking lot, creating a dangerous condition, and that the defendants had notice of said condition. The complaint was answered by La Famosa Market, and the case proceeded against the lone defendant. Amezquita claimed that she did not initially know what caused her to fall, but that her daughter checked the area and discovered the metal rebar sticking out. She claimed that La Famosa’s parking lot was in constant disrepair and that this failure to maintain the premises caused her accident. However, she noted that defendant removed the protruding rebar piece three days after the accident. Plaintiff’s counsel argued that the surveillance video of the accident, which was presented by the defendant, showed Amezquita’s pant leg getting caught by the rebar. La Famosa claimed that the condition of the parking stop was open and obvious. Defense counsel argued that Amezquita tripped in the parking area, and did not get snagged, and that she was contributorily negligent for not paying attention where she was going. Counsel also contended that the video footage did not show what the plaintiff tripped over, since it was blocked by the front of the car extending over the parking stop. Thus, defense counsel argued that the video only showed Amezquita falling, but not what caused her fall., Amezquita was taken from the scene of the accident by ambulance and brought to an emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a dislocation to her right, dominant elbow. Her arm was subsequently placed in a sling. Amezquita then returned four days later with complaints of continued pain, and it was determined that she had a fracture to her elbow. Within a few weeks of the accident, she underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery, with the insertion of pins and screws. She later underwent surgery to remove the hardware in January 2011, and underwent roughly a dozen courses of physical therapy before and after the procedure. Amezquita claimed that while she regained 70 percent of her right arm use, she is left with an ulnar claw (claw hand) condition, which restricts the use of her right hand and arm. Thus, she claimed that she is unable to perform fine motor skills, such as sowing or brushing her hair. She further claimed she can no longer work as a cook, is limited in her household chores, and can no longer watch over her grandchildren. As a result, Amezquita sought recovery of $147,000 in damages for her past medical costs, as well as unspecified damages for her future medical costs and past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel did not contest the severity of Amezquita’s injury.