On March 20, 2014, plaintiff Gloria Carmona, an unemployed woman in her 50s, was walking in the courtyard of an apartment complex, where she resided in Cudahy, when she tripped and fell. Carmona claimed to her left wrist. Carmona sued the owner of the apartment complex, Ronald Vega. Carmona alleged that Vega failed to properly maintain the pavement of the courtyard, creating a dangerous condition. Specifically, she claimed that the concrete blocks in the courtyard were separating due to tree roots, causing her to trip and fall on the uneven pavement. Vega conceded liability in exchange for Carmona agreed to be held 10 percent comparatively liable for the incident., Carmona sustained a fracture of her left, non-dominant wrist. She was subsequently taken by her family to a hospital, where she was treated and released. A few weeks later, Carmona underwent an internal fixation of her left wrist. She was then prescribed a course of physical therapy by her surgeon, but Carmona, instead, elected to perform a series of home exercises. Carmona claimed that due to a bad result of the surgery, she only regained 50 percent usage of the fingers on her left hand. She alleged that since her fracture did not heal well, she cannot even make a fist with her left hand. Defense counsel contended that Carmona should have completed the recommended physical therapy, rather than deciding to just undertake home exercises, and that by failing to undergo the physical therapy as ordered by her surgeon, Carmona caused her poor surgical results. The defense’s expert hand surgeon opined that if Carmona went through the course of physical therapy as ordered, then he would expect Carmona to have use of her hand. He also testified that there is out-patient surgery, at a cost of $17,000, that could restore Carmona’s loss of range of motion. In response, plaintiff’s counsel contended that Carmona only spoke Spanish and could not attend the recommended physical therapy due to her income and life situation. However, defense counsel presented evidence that Carmona was a Medi-Cal beneficiary and, in fact, had the resources for the recommended care.