On Nov. 4, 2011, at approximately 6 p.m., plaintiff Rosa Bonilla, 50, a homemaker, was in her apartment unit at 7815 Hellman Avenue, in Rosemead, when she slipped and fell in her kitchen. Bonilla claimed to her right wrist, right shoulder, neck, and lower back. Bonilla sued the owner of the apartment building, Chih Chen, alleging that Chen failed to repair a leak in her ceiling. Bonilla claimed the leak emanated from the ceiling in her kitchen, causing a puddle of water to accumulate on her kitchen floor. She claimed Chen failed to repair the leak after initially trying and being unsuccessful. Chen stipulated that he was negligent in failing to repair a leak from a stove vent above the stove, but claimed that there was not enough rainfall to have caused the amount of water intrusion described by Bonilla and her family. He also claimed the vent cover had come off and was left open, which allowed rainwater to enter the pipe and fall on the stove in the kitchen of Bonilla’s apartment. Defense counsel argued that the stove vent opening was only 8-inches in diameter and that the total amount of water that could have entered the apartment that day was less than one measuring cup. Thus, counsel contended that the water would have accumulated on the stove top, but could not have flooded the entire kitchen or even cause the floor next to the sink to be wet. Prior to trial, the court granted defense counsel’s motion to preclude the plaintiff’s expert safety engineer from testifying on the ground that the expert had stated during his deposition that he had no opinion on whether there was enough rain to have caused the amount of flooding in the kitchen described by Bonilla and her family., Bonilla went to a hospital and was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of her right wrist. She claimed the injury caused extreme pain and her wrist was placed in a splint. Bonilla also claimed pain in her neck, lower back, and right shoulder, and was later diagnosed with cervical and lumbar strains and sprains. She ultimately underwent physical therapy for her neck and lower back. In 2013, Bonilla underwent two epidural injections to her lower back and then, in January 2014, she had a lumbar discectomy at L4-5, which was performed by Dr. Fardad Mobin. Her doctor then recommended future medical treatment in the form of physical therapy, epidural injections, and follow-up visits. Thus, Bonilla asked the jury to award $149,843.58 in past medical costs and $30,000 to $40,000 in future medical costs. She also sought recovery of $300,000 in damages for past pain and suffering and $700,000 in damages for future pain and suffering. Defense counsel argued that Bonilla’s lower-back injury was not related to the alleged incident, as there were several gaps in Bonilla’s treatment.