On March 27, 2015, plaintiff’s decedent Gary Kendrick, who in a state of mental crisis, was sitting on the grass at his house in Encinitas, leaning backward, with a shotgun in his left hand. The barrel of the shotgun was pointed upward near his face when he was approached by San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Block. When Kendrick heard Block’s radio, he jumped up and rose to his feet. Block ultimately shot Kendrick three times, during which Kendrick was still standing after the first shot and fell backward after the third shot. When Kendrick suddenly sat up, Block shot Kendrick a fourth time, resulting in Kendrick’s death. The decedent’s wife, Cynthia Kendrick, acting individually and as her deceased husband’s successor in interest, sued Block; Block’s supervisor, San Diego Sheriff William Gore; and Block’s employers, the county of San Diego and the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. She also sued Detective Matthew Mays, Lieutenant Amy Brown-Lisk, Detective Troy DuGal, Detective Dan Barnes, Detective Dave Hillen, Sergeant Dustin Lopez, Deputy Kevin Norie, Deputy Jeremy Collis and Deputy Jason Worthington. Ms. Kendrick alleged that Block’s actions constituted excessive force. She also alleged that the defendants’ actions constituted violations of her husband’s civil rights, and violations of both her and her husband’s constitutional rights. Ms. Kendrick, who was the only other witness to the incident, claimed that her husband never took a “shooter’s stance” when confronted by Block and that, instead, Block began firing at Mr. Kendrick within seconds of encountering him. She also claimed that when Block began firing, Mr. Kendrick was facing Block, standing in a cross pose with his arms outstretched and near parallel with the ground while holding a bottle of vodka in his right hand and the barrel of the shotgun in his left hand. Ms. Kendrick claimed that Mr. Kendrick never swung or aimed the shotgun toward Block and that Mr. Kendrick never had his hand near the trigger of the shotgun. She alleged that, instead, the only motion her husband might have made was dropping the vodka bottle before Block started shooting. Ms. Kendrick also alleged that Mr. Kendrick did not lower his arms from a parallel position before Block began shooting and that when her husband was shot, the shotgun flew out of his right hand and away from his body. She claimed that Mr. Kendrick never regained possession of the shotgun before he died and that Mr. Kendrick could not have fired his gun based on the manner in which he was holding it. Thus, plaintiff’s counsel asserted that Mr. Kendrick never posed a deadly threat to Block. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Ms. Kendrick was devastated after witnessing Block shoot her husband to death, but that, nevertheless, the deputies illegally seized Ms. Kendrick by placing her in the back seat of a locked patrol car and forcing her to go the station against her will while barefoot and still in her pajamas. Counsel also contended that once at the station, the deputies held Ms. Kendrick for over seven hours while they forced her to submit to photographing, forced her to use the restroom in a holding cell while a male deputy watched over her, and interrogated her on topics that were unrelated to the shooting. Block claimed that when he arrived at the scene, Mr. Kendrick suddenly stood up while holding a shotgun, so he commanded Mr. Kendrick to stay where he was and to put the gun down. However, he alleged that Mr. Kendrick stepped toward him as the barrel of the shotgun started swinging toward him and that Mr. Kendrick’s right hand started moving toward the pistol grip of the shotgun. He claimed that at the same time, Mr. Kendrick began yelling at him to shoot him while starting to going into a shooting stance. Block claimed that as a result, he shot at Mr. Kendrick three times and that Mr. Kendrick only fell backward after the third shot. He alleged that after the initial shooting, he went down to the ground in shock, but then saw Mr. Kendrick sit up quickly with the shotgun still in his hand. He also alleged that he saw Mr. Kendrick begin to turn his body to put it into a seated shooting position while moving his right hand toward the pistol grip. Block claimed that as a result, he got back up and fired his fourth shot, which killed Mr. Kendrick. In addition, Block claimed that Ms. Kendrick voluntarily went to the station, where she voluntarily answered questions., Mr. Kendrick sustained four gunshot wounds and died at the scene. Ms. Kendrick sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of her husband.