At around 3 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2009, plaintiff Timothy Dewitt (also known as T.C. Dewitt), an assistant AMC theater employee and an aspiring entertainer, parked his Ford F-150 truck on Las Palmas Avenue, in Hollywood, leaving the front passenger window open, but locking all the doors. He then walked his date to her apartment door, and then began walking back to his truck. However, as he approached his truck, he noticed the cabin light was turned on, the door had been opened, and an individual, Edmond Mushegyan, was leaning inside the passenger side of the vehicle. Dewitt subsequently shouted and ran toward the truck. As a result, Mushegyan turned toward Dewitt, just as Dewitt jumped toward Mushegyan with a “flying kick,” which struck Mushegyan in the chest and caused Mushegyan to fall back into the open passenger door of the truck. Mushegyan then got up and verbal altercation ensued. Eventually, Dewitt got into his vehicle to drive home and began driving north on Las Palmas Avenue. However, he claimed he did not recall anything after that point. Apparently, Mushegyan fired a gun at the truck, and one of the bullets struck Dewitt in the head, causing Dewitt to lose control of the vehicle and crash into a neighboring apartment building across the street from the Las Palmas Gardens apartment building. At the time of the incident, Mushegyan was employed as an armed security guard for General Security Service Inc., which was under contract to guard Las Palmas Gardens, which was located approximately 50 feet south of where Dewitt’s vehicle was parked on Las Palmas Avenue. Mushegyan was later arrested, tried, and convicted of attempted murder and other offenses. Dewitt sued Mushegyan; Mushegyan’s employer, General Security Service Inc. (which was initially erroneously sued as “General Security Inc.”); the owner of the Las Palmas Gardens apartment building, New Vision Assets Inc.; and the property manager, John Stewart Co. Dewitt alleged that Mushegyan committed a number of intentional torts against him, including assault and battery, and that the remaining defendants were vicariously liable for Mushegyan’s actions. Dewitt also alleged that General Security Service Inc., New Vision Assets Inc., and John Stewart Co. all exercised substantial or sufficient control to be considered Mushegyan’s employer and, thus, were negligent in the hiring, training, supervision, and retention of Dewitt. Dewitt claimed that after he kicked Mushegyan in the chest, causing him to fall back into the truck, Mushegyan got up and pulled a gun on him. He contended that a verbal altercation then ensued until he eventually got into his vehicle to drive home, but that as he began to drive north on Las Palmas Avenue, Mushegyan shot him in the head. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel contended that Mushegyan was acting as a security guard during the incident and that the companies were both liable for Mushegyan’s actions and negligent in the hiring, supervision, and retention of Mushegyan. A default judgment was entered against Mushegyan. However, Mushegyan’s deposition was taken where he was incarcerated, and portions of his deposition testimony were read to the jury. Mushegyan denied pulling a gun after he was kicked by Dewitt, but admitted that after an argument, Dewitt drove north on Las Palmas Avenue. However, he claimed that Dewitt then turned around to drive south on Las Palmas Avenue while screaming out of his window that he was going to run him down with his truck. Mushegyan also claimed that Dewitt revved the engine and continued screaming as he drove toward him, causing him to jump out of the way, pull his gun, and fire two shots at Dewitt’s vehicle as it passed him, during which one of the shots struck Dewitt’s head. Thus, Mushegyan claimed that he shot at the truck because he was afraid for his life and because he wanted to scare Dewitt. However, defense counsel for General Security Service Inc., New Vision Assets Inc., and John Stewart Co. noted that Mushegyan picked up the shell casings and switched out his ammunition clip after the incident so that it appeared that he did not fire his gun. Counsel also noted that Mushegyan lied to the police during their investigation of the incident. Thus, counsel for General Security Service Inc., New Vision Assets, Inc. and John Stewart Co. contended that Mushegyan was acting outside the course and scope of his employment at the time of the shooting and that the companies did not fall below the standard of care for a security contractor, property owner, or property manager., Dewitt sustained a gunshot wound to the back of his head and was subsequently taken to a hospital, where he underwent emergent surgery to remove the bullet. He then remained in the hospital for about a week while undergoing medical care. Although the surgery removed the bullet from his brain, Dewitt sustained a traumatic brain injury, resulting in near complete left side homonymous hemianopsia, in that he is unable to process the left field of vision out of either eye. Dewitt claimed that the visual condition is permanent and that he suffers from migraines with occasional numbness to his left side. However, he acknowledged that he has no cognitive defects and that his activities of daily living are essentially unchanged. He also acknowledged that he continues to attempt stand-up comedy and acting/directing in short YouTube videos. Despite that, Dewitt claimed that he would require future damages, mainly for assisted transportation, as he should not drive a vehicle with his condition. The plaintiff’s experts opined that Dewitt would need a personal assistant for 12 to 14 hours per day for the rest of his life, which was estimated to be approximately 40-plus years. The experts also opined that Dewitt would require significant medical treatment and monitoring. Thus, the experts opined that Dewitt’s future damages totaled approximately $3.8 million. Defense counsel did not dispute Dewitt’s vision loss, but contended that all of Dewitt’s future damages should amount to $500,000, at most, as the bulk of the alleged medical treatment and monitoring was unwarranted. Defense counsel noted that Dewitt chose to not to attempt to learn how to drive with his permanent injury and that Dewitt failed to have any experts evaluate him for seizure disorder in the five years leading up to trial, despite his experts’ testifying that such an evaluation should be undertaken.