Diondra Williams v. Dumaguindin

District Court, C.D. California·Decided May 18, 2021·No. 2:20-cv-09042·Unknown

Opinion

DIONDRA WILLIAMS as G.A.L for Case No. 2:20-CV-09042 VAP (ASx) “S.M.”, SOLEMULI AFAESE as Consol. w/ 2:20-CV-09350 VAP (ASx) G.A.L. for “A.M.”, & IRENE Consol. w/ 5:20-CV-02252 VAP (ASx) Plaintiffs. [Hon. Dist. Judge Virginia A. Phillips Mag. Judge Alka Sagar] v. [DISCOVERY MATTER] DUMAGUINDIN, OFC. C. ROSA PROTECTIVE ORDER PASADENA, & CHIEF JOHN PEREZ, individually and in their official capacities and DOES 1-10 inclusive, Complaint Filed: 11/26/19 Trial Date: Not Yet Set Defendants. ARCHIE BARRY, individually and as successor-in-interest for Decedent, Anthony McClain Plaintiff. v. EDWIN DUMAGUINDIN, and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, Defendants. BAM, a minor, by and through his guardian ad litem Kimberly Jenkins, individually and as successor in interest to ANTHONY GUYDALE McCLAIN, Plaintiffs. v. CITY OF PASADENA, PASADENA POLICE JOHN PEREZ, OFFICERS EDWIN DUMAGUINDIN, and DOES 1-10, Defendants. 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS. Discovery in this action are likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection frompublicdisclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting or defending this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth below, that this Stipulated Protective Order creates no entitlement to file confidential information under seal, except to the extent specified herein; Central District Local Rules 79-5.1 and 79-5 set(s) forth theprocedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. Nothing in this Stipulation or associated Order shall be construed so as to require or mandate that any Party disclose or produce privileged information or records that could be designated as Confidential Documents/Protected Material Contentions re Harm from Disclosure of Confidential Materials. This action is likely to involve law enforcement investigative files, other law enforcement agency records, peace officer personnel records and medical records for whichspecialprotectionfrompublicdisclosure,includingdisclosureorreleasetoany news media, member of the press, website, or any other public forum (except as permitted under section 12 regarding filings with the court in this action and under seal) and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, materials relating to the investigation of an incident involving decedent and officers of the Pasadena Police Department, peace officer personnel files, medical records including information implicating privacy rights of third parties, and informationotherwisegenerallyunavailabletothepublic,orwhichmaybeprivileged orotherwiseprotected fromdisclosureunder state orfederal statutes,court rules,case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitatethepromptresolutionofdisputesoverconfidentialityofdiscoverymaterials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. Defendants contend that there is good cause and a particularized need for a personnel file records and associated investigative or confidential records for the following reasons. Defendants contend that peace officers have a federal privilege of privacy in their personnel file records: a reasonable expectation of privacy therein that is underscored, specified, and arguably heightened by the Pitchess protective procedure of California law. See Sanchez v. Santa Ana Police Dept., 936 F.2d 1027, 1033-1034 (9th Cir. 1990); Hallon v. City of Stockton, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14665, *2-3, 12- 13 (E.D. Cal. 2012) (concluding that “while “[f]ederal law applies to privilege based discovery disputes involving federal claims,” the “state privilege law which is consistent with its federal equivalent significantly assists in applying [federal] privilege law to discovery disputes”); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 613 n. 4, 616 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (peace officers have constitutionally-based “privacy rights [that] are not inconsequential” in their police personnel records); cf. Cal. Penal Code §§ 832.7, 832.8; Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1040-1047. Defendants further contend that uncontrolled disclosure of such personnel file information can threaten the safety of non-party witnesses, officers, and their families/associates. Second, defendants contend that municipalities and law enforcement agencies have federal deliberative-executive process privilege, federal official information privilege, federal law enforcement privilege, and federal attorney-client privilege (and/orattorneyworkproductprotection)interestsinthepersonnelfilesoftheirpeace officers – particularlyas to those portions of peace officer personnel files that contain critical self-analysis, internal deliberation/decision-making or evaluation/analysis, or communications for the purposes of obtaining or rendering legal advice or analysis – potentially including but not limited to evaluative/analytical portions of Internal Affairs type records or reports, evaluative/analytical portions of supervisory records or reports, and/or reports prepared at the direction of counsel, or for the purpose of obtaining or rendering legal advice. See Sanchez, 936 F.2d at 1033-1034; Maricopa 1997); Soto, 162 F.R.D. at 613, 613 n. 4; Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 654, 668-671 (N.D. Cal. 1987); Tuite v. Henry, 181 F.R.D. 175, 176-177 (D. D.C. 1998); Hamstreet v. Duncan, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89702 (D. Or. 2007); Admiral Ins. Co. v. United States Dist. Ct., 881 F.2d 1486, 1492, 1495 (9th Cir. 1988). Defendants further contend that such personnel file records are restricted from disclosure by the public entity’s custodian of records pursuant to applicable California law and that uncontrolled release is likely to result in needless intrusion of officer privacy; impairment in the collection of third-party witness information and statements and related legitimate lawenforcement investigations/interests; and achilling of open and honest discussion regarding and/or investigation into alleged misconduct that can erode a public entity’s ability to identify and/or implement any remedial measures that may be required. Third,defendantscontendthat,sincepeaceofficersdonothavethesame rights as other private citizens to avoid giving compelled statements, it is contrary to the fundamental principles of fairness to permit uncontrolled release of officers’ compelled statements. See generally Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal.3d 822, 828-830 (1985); cf. U.S. Const., amend V. Accordingly, defendants contend that, without a protective order preventing such, production of confidential records in the case can and will likely substantially impair and harm defendant

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Related

Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles
710 P.2d 329 (California Supreme Court, 1985)
Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana
936 F.2d 1027 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)
Soto v. City of Concord
162 F.R.D. 603 (N.D. California, 1995)
Tuite v. Henry
181 F.R.D. 175 (District of Columbia, 1998)