Early on Nov. 10, 2009, plaintiff Allen Harris, 53, an auto mechanic, received a knock on the door of his apartment, where he lived with his stepsons, Davion McCaleb and Henry Russell. When McCaleb answered the door, Los Angeles police officers served a warrant and quickly took him into custody. They then ordered all of the residents to exit the location. The Los Angeles Police Department had been investigating an armed robbery of a Home Depot store that occurred on Sept. 12, 2009. During its investigation, McCaleb, who worked at that Home Depot store, became a suspect in the crime and, as such, the detective investigating the case obtained a warrant to search the apartment of McCaleb’s father. When the officers ordered the residents to put their hands behind their back and walk backward toward them in order to exit the apartment, Harris rose his right hand claimed that he was unable to do as ordered because of his disability. As a result, Officer Alex Tellez clamped a cuff around Harris’ left wrist, pulled him out of the apartment and forced both of his arms behind his back to fully handcuff him. As a result, Harris claimed that his left wrist was injured. McCaleb was not charged in the robbery. Harris, Russell and McCaleb sued the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Department, Home Depot, Detective Arman Jose, Detective Armando, Officer Aguilera, Officer Floyd Hill, Officer Alex Tellez and Steven Katz. Russell and McCaleb initially sought recovery for false arrest, but later dismissed their claims. Also, the city, the police department, Home Depot, Jose, Armando, Aguilera, Hill and Katz were let out of the case. Thus, the matter proceeded to trial only on Harris’ claim against Tellez, alleging excessive force. Harris testified that he was about to take a shower when the warrant was served, so he did not have his leg brace on to assist him when he walked. He claimed that as he exited his bedroom in response to the loud banging at the front door, he was confronted by an officer pointing a shotgun at him and yelling, “Put your hands behind your back, turn around and walk backwards towards my voice.” Harris claimed that he promptly raised his right hand and explained, “I can’t put my hand behind my back. I had a stroke and I can’t walk backwards.” He testified that when the commands were repeated, his two sons also yelled to the officers, “He can’t put his hands behind his back. He’s disabled and he had a stroke.” Harris claimed that instead of accommodating him, he was aggressively dragged out of his apartment after Tellez grabbed his injured left arm, twisted his wrist, and forced his spasming semi-paralyzed left arm behind his back. A neighbor who testified at trial observed that while this was occurring, Harris was imploring, “I can’t put my hand behind my back. You’re hurting me.” Plaintiffs’ counsel relied on evidence at trial that demonstrated that Tellez ignored all the information given to him and, after forcing Harris’ arm behind his back, slammed Harris against a stucco wall and single cuffed him, clamping the cuffs down in an improper and excessively tight manner. Harris claimed that when he complained that the cuffs were too tight and hurting him, another set of cuffs were finally put on him after about 10 minutes. However, Harris alleged that the left cuff, which was cutting into his wrist, was never loosened. According to plaintiff’s counsel, Tellez denied at trial that he ever handcuffed Harris. Defense counsel contended that Tellez and the other officers had probable cause to take Harris and his stepsons into custody, and denied that any of the officers used excessive force on Harris., Prior to the subject incident, Harris suffered a stroke in June of 2009, resulting in semi-paralysis of his left side. After the handcuffs were removed, Harris continued to complain about the pain and swelling of his wrist, but he claimed his complaints were ignored. Harris subsequently sought treatment at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood two days after the incident. Medical doctors testified that the handcuffing incident caused Harris to suffer nerve damage. Harris also claimed that he suffered a reopening of a clavicle fracture that he previously suffered in September 2009, when he was mugged. He testified that following the handcuffing incident, he suffered burning pain in his clavicle, which did not heal for six months, as well as left, nondominant wrist pain. He alleged that as a result, he suffered a loss of movement in the wrist as a result of the nerve damage caused by the handcuffs. Harris also alleged that his left hand is less functional than it had been before and that the nerve damage in his left wrist is permanent. Defense counsel argued that Harris never mentioned being hurt to the officers and that he had made prior complaints of left wrist pain.