Christopher Wilson v. Los Angeles Police Department

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: November 12, 2021
• Docket: 2:21-cv-05617
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

l 2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 4 5 || CHRISTOPHER WILSON, CASE NO. LACV21-5617-VBF-SHK an individual; Hon. Valerie B. Fairbank 6 Hon. Shashi H. Kewalramani 7 PLAINTIFF, 8 fPROPOSED} STIPULATED 9 ||LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT, PROTECTIVE ORDER 10 et al 11 DEFENDANTS 12 13 14 15 16 ORDER ON STIPULATION 17 The Court, finding good cause, Orders as follows: 18 INTRODUCTION 19 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, 21 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 22 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 23 |I the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 24 |! Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 25 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 26 || from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 27 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties 28 || further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective

1 || Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 2 || 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied 3 || when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 4 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 5 This action involves the City of Los Angeles and members of the Los Angele 6 || Police Department. Plaintiff is seeking materials that Defendant the City of Los Angele 7 ||and Los Angeles Police Department (“City”) maintains as confidential, such as vide g || recordings, audio recordings, and other administrative materials and informatio g || currently in the possession of the City and which the City believes need special protectio 10 from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation. 1 The City asserts that the confidentiality of the materials sought by Plaintiff is recognized by California and federal law, as evidenced inter alia by California Penal

3 Code section 832.7, Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal., 511 F.2d 192, 198

14 (9th Cir. 1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394 (1976), as well as the common law of California, 1s California statutes and certain privileges afforded under Federal common law, including

the “official information,” “deliberative process,” and the “law enforcement investigatory privileges.” See Fed. R. Evid. 501; Cal. Const. Art. 1, §1; Cal. Evid. Code "7 §§ 915, 954, 1012, 1040 and 1043 et seq.; Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b), 33(b) and 34(b); Kerr 18 v. United States Dist. Ct., 511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir. 1975); Dowling v. American 19 Hawaii Cruises, Inc., 971 F.2d 423, 425, n.1 (9th Cir. 1992); Martinez v. City of 20 |! srockton, 132 F.R.D. 677, 683 (ED. Cal. 1990); Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 21 || 653, 656-60 (N.D. Cal. 1987); Federal Trade Comm’n v. Warner Comm., Inc., 742 F.2d 22 11 1156, 1161 (9th Cir. 1984); Jones v. City of Indianapolis, 216 FRD 440, 443-444 (SD 23 2003). There is also an ongoing criminal investigation and case. As such, requested 24 || materials may be protected by the law enforcement investigatory privilege. See United 25 || States ex rel. Burroughs v. DeNardi Corp., 167 F.R.D. 680, 687 (S.D.C. 1996); United 26 || States v. Winner, 641 F.2d 825, 831 (10% Cir. 1981); Friedman v. Bache Halsey Stuart 27 \| Shields, Inc., 738 F.2d 1336, 1341 (10 Cir. 1984). Discovery in this case may also 28

1 || violate third parties’ right to privacy. Johnson by Johnson v. Thompson, 971 F.2d 1487, 2 || 1497 (10 Cir. 1992); Stallworth vy. Brollini, 288 F.R.D. 439, 444 (N.D. CA. 2012). 3 The City also contends that the unfettered disclosure of the materials an 4 ||information, absent a protective order, would allow the media to share this informatio 5 || with potential jurors in the area, impacting the rights of the City herein to receive a fai 6 trial. 4 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolutio of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect informatio

9 the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitte reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial

1 to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It 1s the intent of th parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and tha IS nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of th public record of this case. 16 DEFINITIONS 2.1 Action: This pending federal law suit, Christopher Wilson v. Los Angeles 18 Police Department, et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-05617-VBF-SHK. 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information or items under this Order. 21 2.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how 22 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 23 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 24 Statement. 25 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 26 support staff). “Counsel” would also include Plaintiff in pro se. 27 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 28

1 ||items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 2 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 3 ||the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 4 || other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated 5 disclosures or responses to discovery 1n this matter. 6 2.7. Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 7 || pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 8 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 9 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 10 || House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 11 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 12 || other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 13 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 14 ||this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 15 || appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has 16 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 17 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 18 |}employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 19 ||support staffs). 20 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 21 Discovery Material in this Action. 22 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 23 ||services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 24 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 25 ||their employees and subcontractors. 26 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 27 ||as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 28 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

1 || from a Producing Party. 2113. SCOPE 3 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 4 ||Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 5 ||Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 6 ||Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 7 ||Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 8 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 9 ||judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 10 DURATION i Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 12 |\confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will be 13 ||presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 14 ||compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made 15 ||to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 16 ||447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for 17 ||sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when 18 ||merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this 19 || protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 20 DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 21 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 22 \|Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 23 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 24 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 25 parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so 26 other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which 27 || protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 28 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are

1 ||shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to 2 |junnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 3 || expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 4 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 5 ||designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 6 || promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 7 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 8 || Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 9 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order 10 || must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 11 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 12 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 13 ||excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 14 ||Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 15 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 16 || portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 17 || also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 18 || in the margins). 19 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 20 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 21 ||documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 22 |\designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be deemed 23 ||“CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 24 || copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 25 ||thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 26 || documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 27 contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 28 || qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

1 || portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 2 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 3 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 4 protected testimony. 5. (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 6 || other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior 7 the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 8 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 9 || protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 10 || portion(s). 11 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 12 || failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 13 || Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 14 ||timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 15 |\assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 16 ||6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 17 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 18 || designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling 19 || Order. 20 6.2 Meetand Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute resolution 21 process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 22 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on the 23 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 24 ||to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 25 ||Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 26 ||the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the material in question 27 ||the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation 28 || until the Court rules on the challenge.

1||7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 3 || disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 4 |jonly for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 5 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 6 || described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 7 ||comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 8 || Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and 9 a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this 10 || Order. 11 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 12 || ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 13 || may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 15 ||employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 16 |} disclose the information for this Action; 17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 18 || Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure 20 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 21 || Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) the Court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors 25 ||to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 26 ||““Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian 28 || or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action 2 ||to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests 3 ||that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be 4 permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 5 ||and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 6 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 7 || depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 8 ||and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 9 || Order; and 10 |} (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 11 |;agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 12 PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 13 || INOTHER LITIGATION 14 ||Ifa Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 15 || disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” 16 || that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will 18 |\include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue 20 the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order 21 |\is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of this Stipulated 22 || Protective Order; and 23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 24 ||the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 25 ||If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 26 ||subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action as 27 \|“CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or 28 ||order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The

1 || Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 2 its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 3 || authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive 4 || from another court. 5119. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO □ BE 6 || PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 7 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party 8 ||in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by 9 ||Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 10 || provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting 11 |)a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 12 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 13 ||a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 14 || agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, 15 || then the Party will: 16 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some 17 || or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non- 18 || Party; 19 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order 20 ||in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of 21 || the information requested; and 22 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if 23 || requested. 24 (c) Ifthe Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days 25 || of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 26 ||the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the 27 ||Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce any 28 ||information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement

1 || with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 2 ||contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 3 court of its Protected Material. 4 UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 6 ||Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 7 || Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 8 Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 9 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 10 || whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 11 person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 12 ||that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 13 INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 14 || PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 16 ||inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the 17 || obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 18 ||26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be 19 ||established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege 20 || review. 21 MISCELLANEOUS 22 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the nght of any 23 ||person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 24 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 25 ||Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 26 ||disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 27 || Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground 28 ||to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

1 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 2 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 3 || only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 4 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is 5 ||denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 6 ||record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 7 \|13. FINAL DISPOSITION 8 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days 9 ||of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 10 || Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 11 ||subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 12 ||summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 13 || Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must 14 ||submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or 15 |/entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 16 || where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) 17 || affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 18 ||/summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 19 || Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 20 || pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 21 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and 22 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. 23 || Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 24 ||this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 25 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 26 ||contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 27 authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 28

IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH PLAINTIFF AND DEFENDANTS’ 2 || COUNSEL OF RECORD. 3 loth 4 || Dated: November , 2021 5 6 Qn LA □□ 7 Christopher Wilson, Plaintiff 8 9 Dated: November __ 10th, 2021 MICHAEL N. FEUER, City Attorney 10 KATHLEEN A. KENEALY, Chief Deputy City Atty SCOTT MARCUS, Senior Assistant City Attorney CORY M. BRENTE, Senior Assistant City Attorney 12 VY. Bila By: _ ee 13 JAMES V. BILEK, Deputy City Attorney 14 Attorneys for Defendants, CITY OF LOS ANGELES 1s and LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT

16 7 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

18 11/12/2021 Wes <———— 19 Hon. Shashi H. Kewalramani United States Magistrate Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _____________________ 5 __________________________________________ [full address], declare under 6 penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated 7 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central 8 District of California on _____________________ [date] in the case of Christopher 9 Wilson v. Los Angeles Police Department., Case No. LACV21-5617-VBF-SHK-cv- 10 00363-GW-DFM. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 11 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply 12 could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly 13 promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to 14 this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with 15 the provisions of this Order. 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 17 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 18 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 19 termination of this action. 20 21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 23 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________