On Jan. 25, 2005, plaintiff Dennis Scharf, 58, an audio/visual technician, volunteered to install low-voltage wiring at his church, Calvary Chapel Temecula Valley, located at 27462 Enterprise Circle W., in Temecula. The church had commissioned a construction remodeling project and its pastor, Gary Nelson, asked Scharf to install various pieces of technical equipment inside the church. Scharf was alone inside a secretarial office in the chapel, where he was attempting to install cable and wiring down the wall’s interior to connect with an electrical outlet. To access the other side of the wall, Scharf placed a five- to six-foot ladder on top of a table positioned against the wall, climbed the ladder and tried to pull the wiring down the wall toward the electrical outlet, but the wires did not move. Scharf then hoisted himself to the top of the wall to assess the wiring and somehow fell off of the ladder and onto the floor. Scharf’s wife allegedly found her husband lying unconscious on the floor in a puddle of blood and cerebral spinal fluid. Scharf sustained to his skull, nose, brain, knee, and shoulder. In 2007, Scharf sued Nelson; the property lessee, Calvary Chapel Temecula Valley; the church’s landlord, Donald Coop; the Coop Family Trust, of which Donald Coop was a trustee; the general contractor, Sappington Construction; and the construction company’s owner, Lee Sappington. Scharf alleged that the workspace was unsafe and that the church, Nelson and Coop knew that the space was unsafe and failed to address the hazardous condition. However, defense counsel moved for summary judgment, and it was granted, dismissing the case. The court found that that the church did not have notice of the dangerous condition and, thus, was not responsible for Scharf’s . Scharf then retained new counsel, and appealed the court’s decision. In 2009, Scharf sued the church, Nelson, Coop, the Coop Family Trust, Sappington, and Sappington Construction under theories of negligence. Scharf alleged that the defendants negligently ran a construction site, that they failed to provide him with a safe work plan or safe equipment, that they failed to supervise him, and that they could have prevented the accident. The claims against Coop and the Coop Family Trust were dismissed before trial on a summary judgment motion. Sappington and Sappington Construction were also ultimately dismissed from the case. Thus, matter proceeded to a trial against Calvary Church Temecula Valley and Nelson only. Scharf claimed he did not remember how he fell. At trial, plaintiff’s counsel contended that the church and Nelson could have done more to ensure Scharf’s safety and that the pastor should have considered that Scharf would exert himself to his physical limit to benefit the parish. Counsel for Nelson and Calvary Chapel Temecula Valley contended that Scharf was negligent, noting that Scharf had been a professional audio/visual technician for more than 17 years at the time of the accident. Thus, counsel argued that Scharf knew or should have known the risks of performing the installation work., Scharf sustained a fracture to his skull, a fracture to his nose, several broken bones in a shoulder, and a knee fracture. He was subsequently taken by ambulance to the emergency room at Inland Valley Medical Center, in Windomar. Scharf was in a coma when he presented to the hospital, and doctors immediately performed a craniotomy. Scharf remained in a coma for approximately three weeks and he required knee replacement surgery. He was ultimately diagnosed with a left temporal lobe brain injury, which allegedly triggered a severe mood disorder that resulted in paranoia, psychosis and intense anger. Scharf’s hospitalization lasted approximately one month. He was then discharged home, where he required daily assistance from relatives to perform routine tasks for approximately six months. Scharf claimed that he suffered from severe anger issues after her returned to his home, and he allegedly tried to choke his wife. He claimed that his anger problems continue to persist and have negatively impacted his marriage, his relationship with his son, and his ability to return to work. Thus, Scharf has not worked since the accident. The plaintiff’s medical experts, including a neurologist, a neuropsychologist and a neuropsychiatrist, testified that Scharf’s mood disorder will worsen over time and would never improve. The experts opined that Scharf’s life expectancy will be reduced by five years as a result of his , that he is a danger to himself, that he will require 24-hour care from home health aides, that he has symptoms consistent with the onset of dementia, and that his dementia will worsen dramatically in the five years. Thus, Scharf sought recovery of damages for his past and future pain and suffering. He also sought recovery of damages for his future life care plan. His wife, Gladys Scharf, initially sought recovery of damages for her loss of consortium, but her claim was discontinued after divorcing her husband. Counsel for Nelson and Calvary Chapel Temecula Valley would have argued that Mr. Scharf caused his own and that Mr. Scharf failed to maintain his own health and well-being. Counsel also would have argued that any future medical problems are the consequence of Mr. Scharf’s unhealthy lifestyle.