At around 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 20, 2013, plaintiff Carlos Cahuantzi Jr., 11, was participating in his sixth grade gym class at Ethel Dwyer Middle School, in Huntington Beach. Three separate physical education classes, totaling nearly 100 students, with three P.E. teachers, were combined to play capture the flag. During the game, Carlos injured his left knee when he made contact with the sharp corner of a cement foundation that surrounded a metal electrical box, which was located on the opposite side of the field from where the P.E. teachers were standing together. Carlos, through a guardian ad litem, sued the Huntington Beach City School District. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the school district was negligent for allowing the athletic activity to take place in close proximity to the metal object, which had the potential to cause serious bodily harm to the students. Counsel also contended that the three physical education teachers negligently supervised the students and that the school district was vicariously liable for its teachers’ actions. Defense counsel denied that Carlos was injured due to the negligent supervision of school personnel and denied that there was a dangerous condition of public property. Counsel argued that the allegedly dangerous object was not located in the field of play because the teachers had established boundaries for the activity, which had eliminated the object from the field of play. However, in response, Carlos claimed that no such boundaries were established prior to the incident., Carlos suffered a severe laceration to his left knee. He subsequently required three sutures placed subcutaneously and 21 sutures placed to the approximate wound edges. Carlos claimed that he experiences on-going residual deficits and knee pain when jumping off his left leg, the dominant leg for a right-handed individual. He also claimed that he experiences pain when running downhill, wearing his backpack, attempting to do the duck walk from the crouched position, and making sharp, sudden changes in direction while playing sports, such as baseball and soccer. Thus, Carlos claimed that he is occasionally unable to participate in physical activities due to his left knee pain. The plaintiff’s baseball coach testified that the decline in Carlos’ athletic performance following his knee injury was the most dramatic he had ever seen in his 18 years of coaching. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award Carlos $545,000 in non-economic damages. Defense counsel denied that Carlos’ alleged ongoing knee pain was the result of the subject incident. The defense’s orthopedic expert attributed Carlos’ current and on-going complaints of pain to a pre-existing knee condition. The expert based his opinion on a prior complaint of right knee pain made by Carlos 10 months before the subject incident.