On Aug. 30, 2011, plaintiff Tamara Gaglione, 30, was operating her Dodge Caravan on northbound Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles when she was pulled over by California Highway Patrol Officer Daniel Hernandez, who had observed Gaglione transitioning from eastbound Santa Monica Freeway while using her cell phone. Gaglione initially obeyed and pulled over to the right shoulder, but heard Hernandez using his vehicle’s public address system to tell her not to stop there. However, she later claimed she did not fully hear Hernandez’s order and allegedly did not realize the officer wanted her to exit the freeway. As a result, Gaglione returned to the Harbor Freeway and began moving her vehicle lane-by-lane to the left. Upon seeing this, Hernandez activated his “full code 3 lights and siren” while following Gaglione and again used the public address system to order her to pull over to the right. This time, Gaglione pulled over to the right shoulder and came to a complete stop. Hernandez subsequently executed a “high risk stop,” whereby he ordered her to turn off the ignition, throw her keys out of the window and get out of the vehicle. Officer Roberto Martinez then arrived on the scene. An eight minute incident was recorded on a camera mounted on the dashboard of Hernandez’s California Highway Patrol cruiser. The video showed Gaglione standing next to her vehicle while the officers approached her with their guns drawn. She then turned almost completely around with her back to Hernandez. As a result, the video showed Hernandez grabbing Gaglione’s neck from behind, simultaneously kicking her feet out from under her and slamming her face down to the pavement. Hernandez then pressed his left knee down on the back of her neck and kicked her in her left rib cage with his right foot. Martinez then assisted Hernandez in handcuffing Gaglione behind her back while she was still face-down on the pavement. Officers Oscar Chavez and Chad Williams then arrived as back up, along with Officers Spencer Smith, Kathleen Toggenburger and other CHP officers. Chavez and Williams tied Gaglione’s ankles together, bent her bound lower legs at the knee and connected her bound ankles to her cuffed hands while she laid face down on the pavement with Hernandez still having his knee and full weight pressed into her back. Eventually Gaglione is placed in a squad car. Based on a subsequent report from the officers, Gaglione was charged by the Los Angeles City Attorney with the misdemeanors of evading and resisting arrest, and of driving on a suspended license. A judge later dropped the charges after seeing the video. After the charges were dismissed, Gaglione entered a plea of no contest to driving while using a cell phone and was fined $20. All other charges were suspended and then dismissed on the prosecutor’s motion, in interest of justice, a standard practice in plea bargains. Gaglione sued the responding the CHP officers, Hernandez, Chavez, Martinez, Smith, Toggenburger and Williams, individually and in their official capacities. She alleged that the officers subjected her to excessive force and malicious prosecution, in violation of her civil rights. Gaglione claimed that she did not fully hear Hernandez’s initial order over the police vehicle’s public address system to not stop on the freeway and thought he did not what her to stop where she was on the right shoulder. She claimed that since she did not hear that Hernandez wanted her to exit the freeway, she intended to move, lane-by-lane, to the left so that she could stop on what she thought would be the shoulder to the left of the freeway’s far left lane. However, Gaglione claimed that when Hernandez activated his vehicle’s lights and siren, as well as ordered her to pull over to the right, she immediately did as instructed. She claimed that she never acted hostile or aggressive, and that she got out of her vehicle as ordered. In addition, Gaglione claimed that when Hernandez was one to two feet away from her with his gun drawn, she told him she was pregnant and then fearfully and defensively turned almost completely around so that her back was to him. She alleged that Hernandez then grabbing her neck from behind, simultaneously kicking her feet out from under her and slamming her face down to the pavement, as shown on the video. Thus, Gaglione claimed that even though she told the officers she was pregnant when they first approached her, they still proceeded with their actions and subjected her to excessive force. In addition, she claimed that Toggenburger, the sergeant supervisor of the other officers, as well as Williams and Smith, did nothing to prevent the excessive force being used against her. Defense counsel contended that prior to the incident, Gaglione was in the fast lane, cutting off other drivers, before eventually being pulled over to the right shoulder of the roadway by the officers following her. Counsel also contended that in the responding officers’ report, they stated that the incident had escalated because Gaglione had ignored their orders and appeared to raise her arms in an aggressive manner after hopping out of her van. Hernandez also noted in his report that he kneed Gaglione in an effort to distract her so that his partner, Martinez, could handcuff her. He further claimed that he kicked Gaglione in her left rib cage because she was resisting being handcuffed. However, Hernandez claimed that Gaglione did not mention that she was pregnant until she was on the ground., Following the incident, Gaglione was taken to a hospital by the officers. She alleged she suffered pain and severe emotional distress as a result of the officers’ actions. Specifically, Gaglione claimed that she was fearful that her soon-to-be-born child was harmed during the incident. She also claimed stress and anxiety from being maliciously prosecuted. Thus, Gaglione sought recovery of damages for her pain and suffering, as well as recovery for the substantial attorney fees and costs she incurred while defending the malicious prosecution.