$41.95 Million Verdict Against Walmart After In-Store Baseball Bat Attack

On November 23, 2017, a man entered a Walmart store in San Jacinto, California, walked to the sporting goods section, and picked a baseball bat off the shelf. He then moved through the aisles and struck Carlos Fernandez and Rosalia Fernandez repeatedly in the head. Other shoppers intervened and restrained the attacker, who was later found incompetent to stand trial and institutionalized.

Carlos sustained a depressed skull fracture. Rosalia also suffered blunt-force head trauma. Both underwent extended rehabilitation. Walmart disputed the severity of the ongoing injuries; its retained neurologist testified during trial that neither victim had lasting serious problems and that both had fully recovered.

The lawsuit, filed in Riverside County Superior Court as Case No. RIC1904598, argued that Walmart created an unreasonably dangerous condition by displaying baseball bats in an open retail aisle at a location with a documented history of criminal incidents. The theory was that the attack was foreseeable and that the store failed to take adequate security measures.

Brian Beecher of the Law Office of Arash Khorsandi, PC, served as lead trial counsel alongside Benny Khorsandi. The trial ran more than two months. The jury reached its verdict on June 22, 2023, awarding $41.95 million in total damages. The jury apportioned 50 percent of liability to Walmart, with the resulting judgment against the company exceeding $30 million.

Walmart filed a notice of appeal on July 30, 2024, and two appeals were consolidated under Court of Appeal case numbers E082756 and E084385 in the Fourth Appellate District. As of the filing of amicus briefs in late 2025, that appeal remains pending and the trial verdict has not been reduced by any appellate ruling.