On Nov. 19, 2011, plaintiff Britteny Cotledge, 19, a student, left a party, in the city of Santa Barbara, with her boyfriend and was followed by several unknown young men who had been at the party. The individuals then attempted to provoke a fight with the boyfriend, presumably related to his having beat them at a game of pool while at the party. As a result, Cotledge and her boyfriend quickly locked themselves into her mother’s car, which was parked at the curb, and then Cotledge rolled the car into the vehicle parked in front of her as she was trying to escape. There was no damage done to the vehicles, but the commotion caused neighbors to contact the Santa Barbara Police Department. After Officers Aaron Tudor and Kyle Crooks arrived at the scene, they detained Cotledge against the right, front fender of a patrol car. Cotledge claimed that video from the patrol car recorded Tudor snapping her slender upper arm with a “control hold,” as she turned her head in an attempt to speak to him. An ambulance was ultimately summoned to the scene, not only for Cotledge, but for another SBPD officer who allegedly witnessed what Tudor had done and passed out. Cotledge was booked for driving under the influence and “resisting arrest.” A disposition of the DUI charge was negotiated down to reckless driving, and the resisting count was ultimately dismissed. Cotledge sued Tudor; Crooks; the officers’ supervisor, Police Chief Cam Sanchez; and the officers’ employer, the city of Santa Barbara. Cotledge alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted excessive force in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and constituted a violation of the California Banes Civil Rights Act. She also alleged that the officers’ actions constituted battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence, in violation of state laws, and that Sanchez and the city were negligent in the hiring, supervision and retention of the officers. Cotledge initially claimed that Tudor was known to be a violent and dishonest officer, well before the incident, but Cotledge later agreed to dismiss Sanchez and the city from her Monell claim. Ultimately, the matter continued with Cotledge’s excessive-use-of-force claim only. Defense counsel contended that Cotledge was resisting arrest while Tudor was handcuffing her. Tudor and Crook asserted that they were shielded by qualified immunity, even if they had violated Cotledge’s right to be free from unreasonable force. However, plaintiff’s counsel prevailed against Tudor’s and Crook’s contentions., An ambulance took Cotledge to the emergency room at Cottage Hospital, in Santa Barbara, where Cotledge was diagnosed with a fracture of her right, dominant humerus. Cotledge claimed that she fully recovered from her injury and that she would not require any further treatment. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Tudor wrote a report falsely claiming that Cotledge broke her own arm by wresting her arm forward while Tudor merely held it. However, the emergency room physician testified at deposition that based on the kind for break and the extreme pain it would cause, Tudor’s explanation as to how the fracture occurred was not humanly possible. The physician also noted that Cotledge is a small-framed, 100-pound girl and that Tudor is twice her size, as is Crooks. Plaintiff’s counsel did not employ a police practices expert or a medical expert, and, instead, relied on the E.R. physician’s prospective testimony to debunk Tudor’s explanation for the fracture. Thus, Cotledge sought recovery of $3,314 in past medical costs, as well as sought recovery of damages for her pain and suffering.