At about 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2017, plaintiff Michele Quigley, 64, a retiree, tripped and fell while walking on a brick pathway at Americana at Brand, a shopping complex in Glendale. She claimed that she suffered to a knee. Quigley sued the shopping center’s operator, Americana at Brand LLC, and the management companies that maintained the premises, Caruso Affiliated Holdings LLC and Caruso Management Co. Ltd. Quigley alleged that the pathway violated building codes and constituted a dangerous condition. She also alleged that the defendants failed to warn of the dangerous condition. Caruso Affiliated was ultimately dismissed from the case. On the morning of trial, Judge Armen Tamzarian struck all Quigley’s allegations regarding building code violations, as well as all corresponding negligence per se jury instructions. Tamzarian also ruled that any verdict would only be in regard to Caruso Management. As a result, Americana at Brand was let out of the case. Quigley’s safety expert opined there was a slope of 19 percent at the pathway where Quigley fell and that the slope constituted an unsafe ramp. Quigley’s counsel argued that there should have been warnings or a railing so that visitors would know that there was a slope at the pathway. Defense counsel noted that Quigley admitted that the subject area was not so dark that she needed to use her cellphone flashlight or that she had to go back to walk on the sidewalk instead of the sloped pathway. Counsel also noted that Quigley admitted that, due to her pre-existing chronic pain, she took a hydrocodone pill on the morning of the accident and that she also had a margarita at dinner prior to her fall. Defense counsel argued that the accident was Quigley’s fault, as the area was built according to approved building plans and as there were well-lit sidewalks near the stores, but that Quigley chose to walk on the brick pathway. Counsel also argued that the slope of the brick pathway was 5 percent, that it was just a pathway and not a sidewalk, and that it was not a means to enter or leave the property., Quigley sustained a fracture of a knee’s patella and a tear of that knee’s patellar tendon. She was immediately taken to a hospital, where she underwent a surgery to reattach the tendon. Quigley claimed that she now walks with a limp and requires a cane to ambulate. Quigley sought recovery for her past and future medical costs, and past and future pain and suffering. Defense counsel disputed Quigley’s residual complaints. Counsel contended that even though Quigley claimed that she walked with a limp and required the use of a cane, she was seen, under surveillance, walking on a street without a cane. Defense counsel also contended that surveillance showed Quigley bending over in her backyard, even though she claimed she could not bend over.