On the night of May 29, 2011, plaintiffs’ decedent Jesse Porter, 89, was in the backyard of his mobile home at the Hayward Mobile Country Club mobile home park when he was bit on his left calf by a Dutch shepherd police dog named Nicky. The dog was being used to aid Hayward officers to search for a suspect after an armed robbery at a Dominos’ Pizza in west Hayward. It tracked the scent to an industrial park, which shares an 8-foot-tall wall with Porter’s mobile home park. As a result, the officers lifted the dog over the security wall and the canine handler instructed the canine to resume tracking the suspect. However, Porter was in his backyard on the other side of the wall and was bitten. Porter developed gangrene in his left leg, resulting in the need to amputate it above the knee. He died less than two months later while recovering in a rehabilitation home. The decedent’s adult children, China McKay, Jonathan Porter and Jesse Porter Jr., acting individually and as representatives of their father’s estate, sued Police Chief Ron Ace; Officers Michael Miller and Robert Purnell; the dog’s handler, Officer Loring Cox; and their employer, the city of Hayward. The decedent’s children alleged that the defendants were negligent in the handling of the dog and violated the decedent’s civil rights. Ace was ultimately dismissed from the case. Thus, the matter continued against the remaining defendants. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the decedent was in his own backyard and was not suspected of any criminal activity when the dog bit him. Thus, counsel contended that the defendants failed to control the dog, as it had a history of biting about 30 people, including criminal suspects and innocent bystanders, before attacking the decedent. Plaintiffs’ counsel further contended that the defendants violated the decedent’s constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure and unnecessary force. The city noted that prior to the subject incident, Nicky’s history included bites to only three non-criminal suspects and about 30 criminal suspects. Thus, the city contended that the dog performed the search as it was trained, but that Nicky mistook the decedent for the suspect it was tracking because the decedent was lying unconscious in bushes behind his mobile home due to a pre-existing heart condition. Cox claimed that he was unaware of the decedent’s presence in the backyard due to the decedent’s unconscious state. He alleged that he lowered the dog down and then followed, but that as he was spooling up the 33-foot leash, Nicky ran to the bushes. Thus, Cox claimed that he was in the yard while Nicky was searching for the suspect and accidentally bit Porter. The cover officers, Miller and Purnell claimed that Cox was the only officer present in the backyard at the time of the bite because they remained on the other side of the fence providing cover protection. Thus, the cover officers claimed that they did not observe the bite or the decedent until after the bite was completed and the decedent had regained consciousness. Plaintiffs’ counsel disputed the defendants’ claims that Porter was unconscious, lying in the bushes and dying of exposure. Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that nothing in the medical records supported the defense’s assertions and noted that Purnell stated in his deposition that Cox was on top of the wall, not in the yard, when he said the dog “has a bite.” Counsel also noted that Purnell testified that immediately after the attack, he rushed over to the decedent, who said, “Don’t leave me,” as he grabbed the officer’s arm., Jesse Porter was bit on his left calf by a Dutch shepherd police dog. His family claimed that after Porter was bitten, the dog maintained the bite while dragging Porter’s body across the ground. They claimed that as a result, the bite left a gaping hole in Porter’s calf muscle. Porter was subsequently rushed to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley for treatment. However, he developed gangrene in his left leg and required an above-the-knee leg amputation. Porter was later transferred to a rehabilitation facility, but he ultimately died there less than two months later, on July 27, 2011. He was 89. The decedent left behind an adult daughter and two adult sons. Under California law, there is no recovery for a decedent’s pre-death pain and suffering. However, the decedent’s children invoked a line of federal civil rights cases that permit the recovery of pre-death pain and suffering damages. Thus, the decedent’s estate sought recovery of damages for Porter’s pre-death pain and suffering, as well as recovery of wrongful death damages. Defense counsel disputed the cause of Porter’s death, noting that the coroner’s autopsy report provided that Porter died from severe atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.