County of Los Angeles v. Superior Court

242 Cal. App. 4th 475, 195 Cal. Rptr. 3d 110, 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 20, 2015
DocketNo. B266037
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 242 Cal. App. 4th 475 (County of Los Angeles v. Superior Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
County of Los Angeles v. Superior Court, 242 Cal. App. 4th 475, 195 Cal. Rptr. 3d 110, 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion

KRIEGLER, J.

Petitioner County of Los Angeles (the County) seeks extraordinary writ relief to compel respondent court to vacate its order granting real party in interest Cynthia Anderson-Barker’s petition for writ of mandate, brought pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA) (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.).1 Respondent court ordered the County to disclose without any redaction all electronically stored “CHP 180” forms in the possession of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from January 1, 2012, to the present. The County contends respondent court erred in finding inapplicable the exemptions found in section 6254 and 6255, parts of the CPRA. Because we conclude that the CHP 180 forms as requested are exempt from disclosure under section 6254, subdivision (k) as a matter of law, we direct respondent court to set aside its order and enter a new order denying Anderson-Barker’s petition for writ of mandate.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

A CHP 180 form is used by the sheriff’s department to document when a vehicle is towed to be stored or impounded, effectively removing it from the owner’s control and temporarily depriving the owner of possession. The sheriff’s manual dictates that a deputy sheriff must fill out a CHP 180 form to document a stored or impounded vehicle. A CHP 180 form is not completed if the vehicle is towed or otherwise moved to a safe location or legally parked and secured in close proximity, by or with the consent of the owner.

The deputy sheriff is responsible for preparing an original and “carbon” copy of a CHP 180 form, giving the copy to the garage/tow truck operator. The completed CHP 180 form is imaged into the Sheriff’s Electronic [479]*479Criminal Documents Archive (SECDA) System, and sufficient copies are made for the sheriff’s station’s needs. The CHP 180 copy given to the garage/tow truck operator includes, but is not limited to the following information: vehicle identification; registered and legal owner(s) and their address(es); the statutory towing authority; a checklist pertaining to the vehicle’s condition; a short narrative indicating the reason for the tow along with other pertinent information; a list of items inventoried inside the vehicle if applicable; and notes pertaining to the release conditions of the vehicle if applicable. The name(s) and address(es) of a vehicle’s registered and legal owner(s) are obtained from either the registration paperwork or a registration check of the vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS).

When the vehicle is stored at the garage/towing company, a notification report of the storage is mailed or personally delivered to the registered and legal owners. If the vehicle has been impounded under Vehicle Code section 14602.6, the notice will be sent by certified mail to the legal owner of the vehicle. The notice will include the following information: name, address, and telephone number of the agency providing the notice; the authority and purpose of the removal of the vehicle; the location of the place of storage/impound and description of the vehicle; how the vehicle may be obtained; and a notification of stored vehicle form (Veh. Code, § 22852), which includes “a statement that informs the recipient of the opportunity for a post storage/impound hearing to specifically address/determine the validity of the storage/impound.” This notification report will be made using the information from the CHP 180 form.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Anderson-Barker’s attorney, Donald W. Cook, has sued various California law enforcement agencies over their respective practices of impounding vehicles under Vehicle Code section 14602.6. On July 19, 2014, Anderson-Barker sent a written request to the County to disclose all electronically stored CHP 180 forms dating from January 1, 2012, to the present, pursuant to the CPRA. Anderson-Barker’s request stated, “That includes, but is not limited to, CHP 180 forms imaged into the electronic archive SECDA.”2 The County responded that “several fields in the CHP 180 forms contain private [480]*480information protected under California law, which information is exempt from disclosure.” The County further stated “private information cannot be electronically redacted from the forms; each record would require manual redaction.” The sheriff’s department estimated that 215,000 of the CHP 180 forms were generated by all the sheriff’s stations throughout the County during the relevant time period and that it would take 71,666 hours to manually redact the records. The County concluded that Anderson-Barker’s request was unreasonably overbroad and burdensome. In a letter, Anderson-Barker argued that the CHP 180 forms are not privileged because all of the data was provided to private parties, such as tow truck operators, vehicle owners, vehicle drivers, and others pursuant to the sheriff’s department manual. The County replied that the parties who receive the CHP 180 form “are persons who have an interest in the vehicle, and therefore, are persons legally permitted to receive the information (i.e., vehicle owners, vehicle drivers, their attorneys, their insurance carriers, and tow truck drivers) in order to perform their respective duties.”

After the County refused to produce the CHP 180 forms, Anderson-Barker filed a verified petition for writ of mandate on October 6, 2014, seeking to compel disclosure “[a]s stored electronically (whether as data or image files), all completed CHP 180 forms, from January 1, 2012 to the present, including but not limited to, CHP 180 forms imaged into the electronic archive SECDA.” On October 31, 2014, the County filed an answer to the petition. Anderson-Barker subsequently filed a brief in support of her petition and the County filed an opposition memorandum of points and authorities.

On July 22, 2015, respondent court held a hearing on the writ petition. After argument, the court granted the petition and issued a writ compelling the County to comply with Anderson-Barker’s request for production of all electronically stored CHP 180 forms from January 1, 2012, to the present. The court reasoned in part that contrary to the County’s contention, the CHP 180 forms are not exempt under section 6254, subdivision (k), which prevents disclosure of records that are prohibited under federal or state law. Because the CHP 180 forms are not exempt from disclosure, the court held redaction is not required. The court ordered that the County produce the requested records within 60 days. Anderson-Barker filed a notice of ruling and entry of order on July 27, 2015.

On August 11, 2015, the County filed a petition for writ of mandate with this court seeking relief from respondent court’s July 22, 2015 order. On September 4, 2015, we issued an alternative writ directing respondent court to vacate its order and enter a new and different order denying Anderson-Barker’s petition for writ of mandate compelling disclosure, or show cause why a peremptory writ should not issue. Pending a determination of the [481]*481merits of the petition or further order by this court, respondent court’s July 22, 2015 order compelling disclosure was stayed. Respondent court elected not to comply with the alternative writ.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
242 Cal. App. 4th 475, 195 Cal. Rptr. 3d 110, 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 1034, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/county-of-los-angeles-v-superior-court-calctapp-2015.