Estate of Dominick Alvarado v. The State of California

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: July 3, 2025
• Docket: 2:25-cv-04059
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Dean Gazzo Roistacher LLP Lee H. Roistacher, Esq. (SBN 179619) 2 Deborah Nash, Esq. (SBN 118572) 440 Stevens Avenue, Suite 100 3 Solana Beach, CA 92075 NOTE: CHANGES MADE BY THE COURT Telephone: (858) 380-4683 4 Facsimile: (858) 492-0486 E-mail: lroistacher@deangazzo.com 5 dnash@deangazzo.com

6 Attorneys for Defendants State of California by and through California 7 Highway Patrol, Officer Townsend and Officer Quintero 8

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 ESTATE OF DOMINICK Case No.: 2:25-cv-04059-PA-JPR ALVARADO; N.A. 1; A.A. 1; A.A. 12 2; N.A. 2; X.A., minors, by and STIPULATED PROTECTIVE through Guardian Ad Litem, Olivia ORDER 13 Watkins; and C.A., a minor, by and through Guardian Ad Litem, Ashley DISCOVERY MATTER 14 Vasquez; SHALYMMAR POOL, individually; FILIBERTO Date: Under Submission 15 ALVARADO, individually, Time: Under Submission Courtroom: 9A 16 Plaintiffs, Judge: Hon. Percy Anderson Magistrate: Hon. Jean P. Rosenbluth 17 v. Complaint filed: 01/02 2025 18 THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, a Trial Date: None Set public entity; OFFICER 19 TOWNSEND (#22902), individually; OFFICER QUINTERO 20 (#22775), individually; and DOES 1- 10, individually, 21 Defendants. 22

23 TO THE HONORABLE COURT: 24 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 25 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 26 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 27 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 28 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 1 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 2 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 3 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 4 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 5 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 6 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them 7 to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets for the 8 procedures that must be following and the standards that will be applied when a 9 party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 10 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 11 This action is likely to involve confidential, proprietary or private 12 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for 13 any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential, 14 proprietary and private materials and information may consist of, among other 15 things, confidential and private information related to peace officers and 16 department policies including information otherwise generally unavailable to the 17 public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under 18 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. 19 Defendants contend that there is good cause and a particularized need for a 20 protective order to preserve the interests of confidentiality and privacy in peace 21 officer personnel file records and associated investigative or confidential records 22 for the following reasons. 23 First, Defendants contend that peace officers have a federal privilege of 24 privacy in their personnel file records: a reasonable expectation of privacy therein 25 that is underscored, specified, and arguably heightened by the Pitchess protective 26 procedure of California law. See Sanchez v. Santa Ana Police Dept., 936 F.2d 27 1027, 1033-1034 (9th Cir. 1990); Hallon v. City of Stockton, 2012 U.S. Dist. 28 LEXIS 14665, *2-3, 12-13 (E.D. Cal. 2012) (concluding that “while “[f]ederal law 1 applies to privilege based discovery disputes involving federal claims,” the “state 2 privilege law which is consistent with its federal equivalent significantly assists in 3 applying [federal] privilege law to discovery disputes”); Soto v. City of Concord, 4 162 F.R.D. 603, 613 n. 4, 616 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (peace officers have 5 constitutionally-based “privacy rights [that] are not inconsequential” in their 6 police personnel records); cf. Cal. Penal Code, §§ 832.7, 832.8; Cal. Evid. Code, 7 §§ 1040-1047. Defendants further contend that uncontrolled disclosure of such 8 personnel file information can threaten the safety of non-party witnesses, officers, 9 and their families/associates. 10 Second, Defendants contend that municipalities and law enforcement 11 agencies have federal deliberative-executive process privilege, federal official 12 information privilege, federal law enforcement privilege, and federal attorney 13 client privilege (and/or attorney work product protection) interests in the personnel 14 files of their peace officers –particularly as to those portions of peace officer 15 personnel files that contain critical self-analysis, internal deliberation/decision- 16 making or evaluation/analysis, or communications for the purposes of obtaining 17 or rendering legal advice or analysis – potentially including but not limited to 18 evaluative/analytical portions of Internal Affairs type records or reports, 19 evaluative/analytical portions of supervisory records or reports, and/or reports 20 prepared at the direction of counsel, or for the purpose of obtaining or rendering 21 legal advice. See Sanchez, 936 F.2d at 1033-1034; Maricopa Audubon Soc’y v. 22 United States Forest Serv., 108 F.3d 1089, 10921095 (9th Cir. 1997); Soto, 162 23 F.R.D. at 613, 613 n. 4; Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 654, 668-671 (N.D. 24 Cal. 1987); Tuite v. Henry, 181 F.R.D. 175, 176177 (D. D.C. 1998); Hamstreet v. 25 Duncan, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89702 (D. Or. 2007); Admiral Ins. Co. v. United 26 States Dist. Ct., 881 F.2d 1486, 1492, 1495 (9th Cir. 1988). 27 Defendants further contend that such personnel file records are restricted 28 from disclosure by the public entity’s custodian of records pursuant to applicable 1 California law and that uncontrolled release is likely to result in needless intrusion 2 of officer privacy; impairment in the collection of third-party witness information 3 and statements and related legitimate law enforcement investigations/interests; and 4 a chilling of open and honest discussion regarding and/or investigation into alleged 5 misconduct that can erode a public entity’s ability to identify and/or implement 6 any remedial measures that may be required. 7 Third, Defendants contend that, since peace officers do not have the same 8 rights as other private citizens to avoid giving compelled statements, it is contrary 9 to the fundamental principles of fairness to permit uncontrolled release of officers’ 10 compelled statements. See generally Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal.3d 11 822, 828-830 (1985); cf. U.S. Const., amend V. 12 Accordingly, Defendants contend that, without a protective order 13 preventing such, production of confidential records in the case can and will likely 14 substantially impair and harm defendant public entity’s interests in candid self 15 critical analysis, frank internal deliberations, obtaining candid information from 16 witnesses, preserving the safety of witnesses, preserving the safety of peace 17 officers and peace officers’ families and associates, protecting the privacy officers 18 of peace officers, and preventing pending investigations from being detrimentally 19 undermined by publication of private, sensitive, or confidential information – as 20 can and often does result in litigation. 21 In addition, many policies and procedures documents that are likely to be 22 requested in discovery contain highly sensitive and confidential materials that deal 23 with CHP officers’ tactics and practices, the public disclosure of which could put 24 such officers’ lives at risk. Public disclosure of these materials may also hamper 25 and impair law enforcement activities, including detection of criminal activity and 26 apprehension of criminal offenders. 27 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 28 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 1 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 2 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 3 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 4 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 5 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 6 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 7 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 8 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 9 2. DEFINITIONS 10 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, Case No.: 2:25-cv-04059- 11 PA-JPR. 12 2.2 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the 13 designation of information or items under this Order. 14 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information 15 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that 16 qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified 17 above in the Good Cause Statement. 18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as 19 well as their support staff). 20 2.5 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates 21 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 23 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, 24 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained 25 (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that 26 are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 27 /// 28 /// 1 2.7. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in 2 a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel 3 to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 4 2.8 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to 5 this Action (such as CHP Staff Attorneys and their staff). House counsel does not 6 include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 7 2.9 Non-Party: Any natural person including employees and 8 former employees, agency, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal 9 entity not named as a Party to this action. 10 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees 11 of a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action 12 and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a 13 law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party and includes support staff. 14 2.11 Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 15 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record 16 and House Counsel (and their support staff). 17 2.12 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces 18 Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action. 19 2.13 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation 20 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits 21 or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or 22 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 23 2.14 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that 24 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 2.15 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 26 Material from a Producing Party. 27 /// 28 /// 1 3. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 4 Extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 8 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 9 4. DURATION 10 If a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 11 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order and is admitted at trial 12 becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, 13 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual 14 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. 15 See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 16 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 17 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 18 part of court record). 19 Otherwise, even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality 20 obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party 21 agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition 22 shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this 23 Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the 24 completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews 25 of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for 26 extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 27 /// 28 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 1 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 2 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for 3 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 4 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 5 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 6 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 7 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are 8 not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 9 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 10 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made 11 for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development 12 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 13 expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 14 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that 15 it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party 16 must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 17 designation. 18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 19 provided in this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as 20 otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for 21 protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is 22 disclosed or produced. 23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 24 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 25 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 26 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 28 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 1 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 2 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 3 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 4 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party 5 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 6 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 7 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 8 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 9 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 10 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must 11 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 12 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 13 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 14 appropriate markings in the margins). 15 (b) For testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 16 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 17 deposition all protected testimony. 18 (c) For information produced in some form other than documentary and 19 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 20 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 21 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 22 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify 23 the protected portion(s). For electronically stored and transmitted files, the 24 Designating Party must include in the file name the “Confidential” designation. 25 Any party reproducing electronically stored and transmitted materials (e.g., 26 printing copies) not already designated “Confidential” shall label the material 27 “Confidential” before using or transmitting the material. 28 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 1 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing 2 alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order 3 for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party 4 must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance 5 with the provisions of this Order. 6 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 7 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 8 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 9 Scheduling Order. 10 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the 11 dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 12 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 13 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 14 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 15 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 16 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 17 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 18 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules 19 on the challenge. 20 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 21 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected 22 Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in 23 connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle 24 this Action. 25 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons 26 and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been 27 /// 28 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 1 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 2 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 3 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 4 authorized under this Order. 5 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. 6 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating 7 Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 8 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 9 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 10 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is 11 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 12 (b) The officers, directors, and employees (including House 13 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 14 this Action; 15 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 16 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 18 (d) The Court and its personnel; 19 (e) Court reporters and their staff; 20 (f) Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 21 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 22 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 23 (Exhibit A); 24 (g) The author or recipient of a document containing the 25 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the 26 information; 27 /// 28 (h) During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for 1 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) 2 the deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A 3 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 4 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), 5 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. 6 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that 7 reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may 8 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 11 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 12 discussions or appointed by the Court. 13 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 14 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION OR SOUGHT BY 15 PUBLIC RECORDS ACT REQUEST 16 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 17 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 19 (a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 20 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited 21 by law; 22 (b) Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena 23 or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by 24 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 25 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 26 (c) Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to 27 be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 28 /// 1 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served 2 with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in 3 this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 4 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 5 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 6 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions 7 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 8 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 9 A public entity’s compliance with Public Records Act requests (which 10 includes its statutory exemptions) does not constitute a violation of this Protective 11 Order. 12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 13 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 15 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 16 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 17 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 18 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 19 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 20 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 21 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 22 confidential information, then the Party shall: 23 (1) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 24 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 25 agreement with a Non-Party; 26 (2) Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 27 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 28 specific description of the information requested; and 1 (3) Make the information requested available for inspection by the 2 Non-Party, if requested. 3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 4 21 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 5 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 6 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 7 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject 8 to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 9 court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden 10 and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 11 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 12 MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 14 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 15 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 16 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 17 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 18 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 19 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit 21 A. 22 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 23 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 25 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 26 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 27 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify 28 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for 1 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 2 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure 3 of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or 4 work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 5 Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the Court provided the Court so allows. 6 12. MISCELLANEOUS 7 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right 8 of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 9 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of 10 this Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object 11 to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed 12 in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object 13 on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 14 Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal 16 any Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected 17 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the 18 sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file 19 Protected Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may 20 file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the Court. 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4, within 23 sixty (60) days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party 24 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. 25 As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, 26 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of 27 the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, 28 the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party 1 (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day 2 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected 3 Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party 4 has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format 5 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 6 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival 7 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 8 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, 9 attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 10 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 11 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 12 Section 4 (DURATION). 13 14. VIOLATION 14 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 15 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 16 sanctions. 17 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 18 Dated: June 30, 2025 Dean Gazzo Roistacher LLP

19 By: /s/ Lee H. Roistacher 20 Lee H. Roistacher Deborah Nash 21 Attorneys for Defendants 22 State of California by and through California Highway Patrol, Officer 23 Townsend and Officer Quintero 24 Email: lroistacher@deangazzo.com 25 dnash@deangazzo.com

26 /// 27

/// 28 1 Dated: June 30, 2025 Gastelum Law

2 By:/s/ Denisse O. Gastelum 3 Denisse O. Gastelum Attorneys for Plaintiffs 4 Email: 5 dgastelum@gastelumfirm.com kaguilar@gastelumfirm.com 6 epoyer@gastelumfirm.com Attorney for Plaintiff 7

8 Dated: June 30, 2025 Law Offices of Christian Contreras 9 10 By: /s/ Christian Contreras 11 Christian Contreras, Esq. Alex Coolman, Esq. 12 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Email: CC@Contreras-Law.com 13 ac@contreras-law.com al@contreras-law.com 14 kt@contreras-law.com

15 STIPULATION SIGNATURE CERTIFICATION 16 I, Lee H. Roistacher, by my signature below, certify that the content of this 17 document is acceptable to all named counsel above and that I have obtained 18 authorization from counsel to affix their electronic signatures to this document. 19 Dated: June 30, 2025 Dean Gazzo Roistacher LLP 20

21 By: /s/ Lee H. Roistacher 22 Lee H. Roistacher 23 Deborah Nash Attorneys for Defendants 24 State of California by and through 25 California Highway Patrol, Officer 26 Townsend and Officer Quintero Email: lroistacher@deangazzo.com 27 dnash@deangazzo.com 28 /// 1 ENTRY OF PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. ° DATED: 7/3/2025 fe frendat~ 5 United States Magistrate Judge 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 18 Case No: 2:25-cv-0N4059-PA (JPRx)

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, Lee H. Roistacher, of Dean Gazzo Roistacher LLP, declare under penalty 4 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective 5 Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District 6 of California on ____________ [Date] in the case of Estate of Dominick Alvarado 7 v. State of California, et al. Case No. 2:25-cv-04059-PA (JPRx). I agree to comply 8 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I 9 understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to 10 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will 11 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 12 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 13 provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 15 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms 16 of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur 17 after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________[print or type full 18 name] of ______________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as 19 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 20 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: _______________________________ 22 City and State where sworn and signed: Solana Beach, California 23 Printed Name: Lee H. Roistacher 24 Signature: ___________________________ 25 26 27 28