On Oct. 15, 2009, at about 9 p.m., plaintiff Edward Rezek, a self-employed engineer, was about to meet friends at the Auld Dubliner Pub in the Tustin District Mall, in Tustin. He parked his car, locked up his laptop, and was talking on the cell phone as he walked toward the restaurant. While walking in a crosswalk, a white car driven by Jose Reyes, a mall security guard employed by IPC International Corp. and Vestar Property Management Co., entered the crosswalk and nearly struck Rezek. As a result, Rezek put his call on mute, yelled at the driver, and hit the hood of the car before continuing on. An Auld Dubliner patron allegedly witnessed the near-miss. After the incident, Rezek resumed his phone conversation and was standing by the entrance to the business’ patio when a plainclothes officer with the Tustin Police Department, Brian Chupp, approached Rezek, tapped him on the shoulder, grabbed his arm, and escorted him away from the pub. Chupp and another plainclothes officer, Mark Turner, then restrained Rezek. When Rezek saw Reyes and another mall security guard, Rino Ibarra, near the curb, he identified them as being in the IPC vehicle that nearly hit him. An incident then occurred, during which Rezek went down to the ground with Turner falling on top of him. Rezek claimed that his right elbow was fractured during the incident and that he was chocked until he was nearly unconscious. A uniformed Tustin police officer drove Rezek to an emergency room, where the elbow fracture was diagnosed, and then drove him to the police department to be booked on charges of malicious mischief for denting the hood of the IPC vehicle and for allegedly resisting arrest. Rezek was later acquitted of resisting arrest, but was convicted of malicious mischief for vandalizing the IPC vehicle. Rezek sued police officers Chupp and Turner; the officers’ employer, the city of Tustin; the officers’ supervisor, Chief of Police Scott Jordan; the mall security guards, Reyes and Ibarra; and the security guards’ employers, IPC International Corp. and Vestar Property Management Co. Rezek alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted police misconduct in violation of his federal civil rights. Specifically, he alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution, intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, and a conspiracy to violate his civil rights. Reyes, Ibarra, IPC, and Vestar were ultimately let out of the case on motions of insufficiency of allegations of conspiracy. The court also dismissed Rezek’s malicious prosecution claim, and Jordan was ultimately let out of the case. Thus, the matter proceeded to trial against Chupp, Turner, and the city. However, on Oct. 8, 2014, one day after the trial had commenced, the court ordered a mistrial on an account of a transcription error regarding Reyes’ statement to internal affairs. Thus, the matter was retried. During the retrial, Rezek claimed he only slapped the hood of the IPC vehicle one time. He claimed that the vehicle was driven by Reyes and had Ibarra as a passenger, but that the vehicle drove off after the nearly hitting him. He alleged that he then resumed his phone conversation for the next 11 minutes, walking in and out of the restaurant, and standing by the entrance to the business’ patio. However, Rezek claimed that while he was on the phone, Chupp approached him without identifying himself and while wearing plain clothes, tapped him on the shoulder, and grabbed his arm, escorting him toward the curb. He claimed that as they got closer to the curb, he noticed Reyes, Ibarra and Turner standing together on the sidewalk with the IPC vehicle behind them. Rezek claimed that Turner then asked if Rezek was the one who “vandalized” Reyes’ car, which was allegedly heard by Rezek’s client on the phone. Rezek further claimed that when he said, “Those are the guys who nearly hit me,” Turner, who was “a large muscular guy,” snatched him in a wristlock, twisted his arm behind his back and then used a leg-sweep to force him face-first to the ground. He alleged that Turner then landed on top of him and ground his face into the dirt to keep him quiet as he shouted for help. Rezek alleged that Turner continued to hold him until he was nearly unconscious and that Turner continued to pull his right arm toward the back of his head, fracturing his elbow and straining his shoulder. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that while waiting for paramedics to arrive, Rezek asked the officers to identify the people who’d seen what happened, but that Rezek was told he didn’t need those witnesses. Despite this, plaintiff’s counsel found two witnesses to testify about the incident. One of the witnesses, the bar manager, claimed that he was told about the “fight,” raced to break it up, and saw Chupp standing and watching Turner, who appeared to be choking Rezek. The manager testified that he did not see the take down because Rezek was already on the ground by the time he came out of the bar. However, the bar manager claimed that when he went to pull Turner off of Rezek, Chupp showed his badge and stopped him. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that Chupp, Turner and the two mall security guards conspired to cover up Turner’s assault by claiming ignorance. Counsel noted that Ibarra initially denied being in Reyes’ vehicle during the crosswalk incident and that Ibarra and Reyes both denied being at the scene during the incident with Turner. However, counsel called IPC dispatcher Scott Peloso, who testified that he had been notified by Ibarra on the car radio of the near miss. Peloso also testified that after the call, he turned surveillance cameras to the location in order to capture the incident on video. In addition, plaintiff’s counsel noted that Peloso presented impeaching testimony that Ibarra and Reyes were together in the vehicle and were on the scene when the takedown occurred. Chupp and Turner claimed they were working undercover to watch for underage drinkers. They were outside the pub because they followed two patrons who appeared to be intoxicated to make sure they didn’t drive drunk. They claimed that while they were on their way back to the bar, they saw Rezek punch the roof of the IPC vehicle multiple times with his fist, damaging the vehicle. (Defense counsel noted that Rezek’s criminal conviction contradicts Rezek’s claim that he only “slapped” the hood of the car once.) Chupp and Turner also denied that Rezek was walking in and out of the restaurant for 11 minutes before they arrived. They claimed that after they witnessed the incident in the crosswalk, they confronted Rezek, identified themselves, and showed him their badges. However, they claimed that since they did not want to blow their cover, they led Rezek away from the bar to a less crowded area, which was outside, near a patio and planter. They also claimed that Rezek initially went willingly, but then started to resist a little bit and that as a result, they put both of their hands on Rezek arms as they led him away. However, Chupp and Turner denied the two IPC officers were waiting at the bottom of the ramp. Defense counsel contended that only Reyes had been in the IPC vehicle and that after the encounter with Rezek in the crosswalk, Reyes sped away to get Ibarra, who was Reyes’ supervisor. Counsel also contended that Reyes and Ibarra did not identify Rezek to the police officers because by the time Reyes returned to the scene with Ibarra, Rezek was already in handcuffs. In addition, defense counsel contended that on cross-examination of Peloso, he admitted that the timeline of events established by Rezek and himself were not consistent with the claim of Reyes and Ibarra being at the scene during the altercation. Counsel further asserted that at least six other witnesses (the two security guards, the two officers and two eyewitnesses) disputed the timeline alleged by Peloso and Rezek, and claimed that no one else was present during the incident except for the Resek, the two officers and bar patrons. As to Rezek’s elbow injury, defense counsel contended that after Chupp and Turner walked Rezek away from the pub, Rezek lifted his arm to point to Reyes and Ibarra to indicate that they were allegedly the guys who almost hit him in the crosswalk. Counsel also contented that as Rezek pointed out the IPC officers, Rezek attempted to break free from Chupp’s hold by ripping his arm out of Chupp’s grasp and then attempted to squirm and pull away. Defense counsel argued that as a result, Rezek had to be taken to the ground, but that Rezek’s actions caused Turner to fall on top of him, causing the chip in the bone of Rezek’s elbow. Counsel also argued that Rezek’s face ended up in the dirt planter because the officers quickly determined that the dirt would have been softer to land on than the pavement. Defense counsel further argued that Rezek was screaming and shouting while sitting down handcuffed and that Rezek’s claims were inconsistent, as Rezek both testified that he was choked and lost consciousness and that he was screaming the whole time. In addition, the officers denied the bar manager came out of the pub during the incident. The defense’s police practices and procedures expert testified that Chupp and Turner were unarmed, plainclothes officers who did not know if Rezek was armed, but only knew that Rezek was angry because he was seen hitting the hood of the car multiple times with his fists. Thus, the expert opined that the Tustin police officers used reasonable force. The police expert further opined that Chupp and Turner did not exceed their bounds or use a choke hold, as the marks on Rezek’s neck were not consistent with a choke hold. He noted that Rezek only had scratches on his neck, which he opined would not have been caused by a choke hold since the person’s neck would have been placed in the crook of the officer’s elbow and squeezed. Thus, the expert opined that the marks on Rezek were more consistent with Turner having his arms around Rezek’s torso and that the marks on Rezek’s neck were most likely due to the plants in the nearby planter as Rezek fell or due to fingernails being raked across his neck during the struggle., Rezek claimed he sustained a fractured of his right elbow and a strain of his right shoulder. He also claimed he sustained marks on his neck as a result of being choked. Rezek was subsequently brought to the emergency room at Western Medical Center, in Santa Ana, where he was treated and released prior to being brought to the police department for booking. Defense counsel disputed Rezek’s claim of suffering an elbow “fracture,” contending that there was no evidence of a break and that only a “very small chip” was noted. Counsel also argued that if the elbow “chip” occurred during the incident, it would have been caused by Rezek’s fall. Counsel further argued that the marks on Rezek’s neck were inconsistent with a choke hold.