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Trial Date Set For Bryan Stow's Lawsuit Against Dodgers

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles Dodgers by Bryan Stow will head to trial Feb. 5, it was announced Friday.

The suit claims the franchise was negligent by not providing enough security to protect him from an attack in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium last year.

The off-duty paramedic, now 43, was knocked unconscious when several men wearing Dodger jerseys assaulted him after opening day on March 31, 2011.

Suspects Louie Sanchez, 30, and Marvin Norwood, 31, both of Rialto, pleaded not guilty in June to charges of one felony count each of mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury.

Prosecutors contended in court papers filed last summer that Sanchez initially shoved Stow and followed him after he and his friends walked away. Sanchez is accused of punching Stow in the side of the head before he and Norwood allegedly kicked Stow, who was knocked unconscious.

According to a stipulation signed by attorneys from both sides and read in court during the preliminary hearing last month, Stow suffered a fracture that resulted in the loss of a portion of his skull as well as brain damage.

He was "unable to walk, has loss of motor skills in his arms and hands, is unable to carry on a normal conversation, unable to control his bodily functions and unable to care for himself due to diffuse, severe, traumatic brain injury," according to the document. "Bryan Stow will require skilled long-term care and daily assistance for the remainder of his life."

Stow and his children, Tyler and Tabitha Stow, filed the lawsuit against former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and 13 team entities on May 24, 2011. Among the claims are assault, battery, negligence, premises liability, negligent hiring, assault and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. They chose not to name Sanchez and Norwood as defendants.

"Stow cannot prove any link between the additional security related steps that Stow contends the debtors should have taken and his injuries," the Dodgers said in a statement in February. "Stow cannot show that anything about the security personnel staffing on opening day caused his injuries and, furthermore, the security staffing at the game greatly exceeded all requirements of California state law."

The judge also set status conferences for Nov. 8 and Jan. 16.

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