Estate of Michael Vasquez v. County of Riverside

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: February 21, 2024
• Docket: 5:23-cv-00988
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 Denisse O. Gastélum, SBN 282771 Christian Contreras, SBN 330269 GASTÉLUM LAW, APC THE LAW OFFICES OF 2 A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS 3 3767 Worsham Ave. PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION Long Beach, California 90808 360 E. 2nd St., 8th Floor 4 Tel: (213) 340-6112 Los Angeles, California 90012 Fax: (213) 402-8622 Tel: (323) 435-8000 5 Email: dgastelum@gastelumfirm.com Fax: (323) 597-0101 Email: CC@Contreras-Law.com 6 Attorneys for Plaintiffs, ESTATE OF MICHAEL VASQUEZ, by and through successor in interest, Kathy 7 Nigro; KATHY NIGRO, individually

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – EASTERN DIVISION 10

11 ESTATE OF MICHAEL VASQUEZ, ) CASE NO. 5:23-cv-00988-JGB-KK by and through successor in interest, ) [Assigned to the Hon. Jesus G. Bernal, 12 Kathy Nigro; KATHY NIGRO, ) District Judge; Referred to the Hon. Kenly individually, ) Kiya Kato, Magistrate Judge] 13 Plaintiffs, ) ) 14 v. ) DISCOVERY MATTER ) 15 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, a public ) entity; RIVERSIDE COUNTY ) [PROPOSED] STIPULATED 16 SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT; ) PROTECTIVE ORDER SHERIFF CHAD BIANCO, in his ) 17 individual and official capacities; ) EDWARD DELGADO; JAMES ) 18 KRACHMER; DAVID HOLM; and ) DOES 1 through 10, individually, ) 19 jointly and severally, ) ) 20 Defendants. ) ) 21 ) ) Discovery Cutoff: TBD 22 ) Trial: TBD

23 PURSUANT TO THE STIPULATION OF THE PARTIES (“Stipulation for 24 Entry of Protective Order re Confidential Documents”), and pursuant to the Court’s 25 inherent and statutory authority, including but not limited to the Court’s authority under 26 the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the United States District Court, 27 Central District of California Local Rules; after due consideration of all of the relevant 28 1 pleadings, papers, and records in this action; and upon such other evidence or argument 2 as was presented to the Court; Good Cause appearing therefor, and in furtherance of 3 the interests of justice, 4 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 5 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 6 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 7 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 8 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation would be warranted. 9 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following 10 Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer 11 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection 12 it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 13 items that are entitled to a confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 14 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated 15 Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil 16 Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that 17 will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 18 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 19 Plaintiffs and the individual Defendants may produce certain documents in this 20 case that contain personal medical, employment or financial information. Such 21 information may implicate the privacy interests of the party and are properly protected 22 through a Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) protective order. Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart, 467 23 U.S. 20, 35 n.21 (1984) (“Rule 26(c) includes among its express purposes the 24 protection of a ‘party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue 25 burden or expense.’ Although the Rule contains no specific reference to privacy or to 26 other rights or interests that may be implicated, such matters are implicit in the broad 27 purpose and language of the Rule.”); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 617 28 1 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (a party’s privacy rights are to be protected through a “carefully 2 crafted protective order.”). 3 Defendants contend that there is good cause and a particularized need for a 4 protective order to preserve the interests of confidentiality and privacy in peace officer 5 personnel file records and associated investigative or confidential records for the 6 following reasons. 7 First, Defendants contend that peace officers have a federal privilege of privacy 8 in their personnel file records: a reasonable expectation of privacy therein that is 9 underscored, specified, and arguably heightened by the Pitchess protective procedure 10 of California law. See Sanchez v. Santa Ana Police Dept., 936 F.2d 1027, 1033-1034 11 (9th Cir. 1990); Hallon v. City of Stockton, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14665, *2-3, 12-13 12 (E.D. Cal. 2012) (concluding that “while “[f]ederal law applies to privilege based 13 discovery disputes involving federal claims,” the “state privilege law which is 14 consistent with its federal equivalent significantly assists in applying [federal] privilege 15 law to discovery disputes”); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 613 n. 4, 616 16 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (peace officers have constitutionally-based “privacy rights [that] are 17 not inconsequential” in their police personnel records); cf. Cal. Penal Code §§ 832.7, 18 832.8; Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1040-1047. Defendants further contend that uncontrolled 19 disclosure of such personnel file information can threaten the safety of non-party 20 witnesses, officers, and their families/associates. 21 Second, Defendants contend that municipalities and law enforcement agencies 22 have federal deliberative-executive process privilege, federal official information 23 privilege, federal law enforcement privilege, and federal attorney-client privilege 24 (and/or attorney work product protection) interests in the personnel files of their peace 25 officers – particularly as to those portions of peace officer personnel files that contain 26 critical self-analysis, internal deliberation/decision-making or evaluation/analysis, or 27 communications for the purposes of obtaining or rendering legal advice or analysis – 28 potentially including but not limited to evaluative/analytical portions of Internal Affairs 1 type records or reports, evaluative/analytical portions of supervisory records or reports, 2 and/or reports prepared at the direction of counsel, or for the purpose of obtaining or 3 rendering legal advice. See Sanchez, 936 F.2d at 1033-1034; Maricopa Audubon Soc’y 4 v. United States Forest Serv., 108 F.3d 1089, 1092-1095 (9th Cir. 1997); Soto, 162 5 F.R.D. at 613, 613 n. 4; Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 654, 668-671 (N.D. Cal. 6 1987); Tuite v. Henry, 181 F.R.D. 175, 176-177 (D. D.C. 1998); Hamstreet v. Duncan, 7 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89702 (D. Or. 2007); Admiral Ins. Co. v. United States Dist. 8 Ct., 881 F.2d 1486, 1492, 1495 (9th Cir. 1988). Defendants further contend that such 9 personnel file records are restricted from disclosure by the public entity’s custodian of 10 records pursuant to applicable California law and that uncontrolled release is likely to 11 result in needless intrusion of officer privacy; impairment in the collection of third- 12 party witness information and statements and related legitimate law enforcement 13 investigations/interests; and a chilling of open and honest discussion regarding and/or 14 investigation into alleged misconduct that can erode a public entity’s ability to identify 15 and/or implement any remedial measures that may be required. 16 Third, Defendants contend that, since peace officers do not have the same rights 17 as other private citizens to avoid giving compelled statements, it is contrary to the 18 fundamental principles of fairness to permit uncontrolled release of officers’ compelled 19 statements. See generally Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal.3d 822, 828-830 20 (1985); cf. U.S. Const., amend V. 21 Accordingly, Defendants contend that, without a protective order preventing 22 such, production of confidential records in the case can and will likely substantially 23 impair and harm defendant public entity’s interests in candid self-critical analysis, 24 frank internal deliberations, obtaining candid information from witnesses, preserving 25 the safety of witnesses, preserving the safety of peace officers and peace officers’ 26 families and associates, protecting the privacy officers of peace officers, and preventing 27 pending investigations from being detrimentally undermined by publication of private, 28 sensitive, or confidential information – as can and often does result in litigation. 1 Plaintiffs do not agree with and do not stipulate to Defendants’ contentions stated 2 above. Plaintiffs have expressed their concerns pertaining to the use of stipulated 3 protective orders in federal civil rights actions. To begin, documents exchanged in 4 discovery are presumptively public in nature. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. 5 District Court, 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999). Furthermore, the public maintains 6 a notable interest in the protection of civil rights and government accountability, 7 including in allegations of law enforcement misconduct. See, e.g., Nixon v. Warner 8 Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n. 7 (1978) (explaining the interest of 9 citizens in “keep[ing] a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies”). While 10 Plaintiffs do not disagree that certain law enforcement documents, and specifically 11 personnel files, warrant the protections afforded by protective orders, Plaintiffs object 12 to the use of protective orders as blanket “confidential” designations. Given the legal 13 issues existing in the Vasquez matter (i.e., whether custody/medical personnel’s 14 deliberate indifference resulted in an in-custody death of a pretrial detainee), it is 15 Plaintiffs’ position that the public interest in government accountability and 16 transparency clearly outweighs any speculative harms the Defendants may allege 17 exist.1 Nonetheless, and in the interest of expediency given the controlling Scheduling 18 Order in the Vasquez matter, Plaintiffs agree to enter into a Stipulated Protective Order 19 to preserve the respective interests of the parties. 20 2. DEFINITIONS 21 2.1 Action: this pending federal law suit. 22 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 23 of information or items under this Order. 24 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of the 25 medium or how generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 26

27 1 As a general rule, the public is permitted access to litigation documents and information produced during discovery, and the party opposing such disclosure must demonstrate particularized harm and, if such specific harm does 28 exist, the Court must still proceed to balance the competing private and public interests at stake. In re Roman Catholic 1 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), as specified above in the Good 2 Cause Statement, and other applicable federal privileges. 3 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 4 support staff). 5 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 6 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 8 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 9 the medium or manner generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, 10 testimony, transcripts, or tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures 11 or responses to discovery in this matter. 12 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 13 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 14 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 15 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. 16 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 17 counsel. 18 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 19 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 20 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 21 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 22 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 23 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 24 2.11 Party: any part to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 25 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 26 support staffs). 27 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 28 Discovery Material in this Action. 1 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 2 services (e.g., photocopying; videotaping; translating; preparing exhibits or 3 demonstrations; and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 4 their employees and subcontractors. 5 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 6 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 7 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 8 from a Producing Party. 9 3. SCOPE 10 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 11 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 12 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 13 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 14 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 15 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the Orders of the trial 16 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 17 4. DURATION 18 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 19 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise 20 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be 21 the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without 22 prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all 23 appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits 24 for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 25 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 26 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 27 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 28 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 1 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 2 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 3 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for 4 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this 5 Order. 6 Mass, indiscriminate, or routine designations are prohibited. Designations that 7 are shown to be clearly unjustified, or that have been made for an improper purpose 8 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 9 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 10 to sanctions. 11 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 12 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 13 promptly notify all other parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 14 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 15 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated 16 or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this 17 Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 18 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 19 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 20 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 21 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 22 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 23 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 24 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 25 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 26 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 27 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 28 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before 1 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 2 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 3 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or 4 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 5 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” 6 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the 7 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 8 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 9 Markings added to documents pursuant to this paragraph shall not obscure the content 10 or text of the documents produced. 11 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 12 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the 13 deposition all protected testimony. The court reporter must affix to each such transcript 14 page containing Protected Material the “CONFIDENTIAL legend”, as instructed by 15 the Designating Party. 16 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 17 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 18 exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the 19 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portions or portions of the information or item 20 warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 21 protected portion(s). 22 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 23 failure to designate qualified information or items as “CONFIDENTIAL” does not, 24 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this 25 Stipulation and its associated Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 26 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 27 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 28 1 5.4 Privilege Logs. If a party withholds information that is responsive to a 2 discovery request by claiming that it is privileged or otherwise protected from 3 discovery, that party shall promptly prepare and provide a privilege log that is 4 sufficiently detailed and informative for the opposing party to assess whether a 5 document's designation as privileged is justified. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(5). The 6 privilege log shall set forth the privilege relied upon and specify separately for each 7 document or for each category of similarly situated documents: 8 (a) the title and description of the document, including number of pages 9 or Bates- number range; 10 (b) the subject matter addressed in the document; 11 (c) the identity and position of its author(s); 12 (d) the identity and position of all addressees and recipients; 13 (e) the date the document was prepared and, if different, the date(s) on 14 which it was sent to or shared with persons other than its author(s); and 15 (f) the specific basis for the claim that the document is privileged and 16 protected. 17 Communications involving counsel that post-date the filing of the complaint 18 need not be placed on a privilege log. 19 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 20 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 21 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court's Scheduling 22 Order. 23 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 24 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 25 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the 26 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 27 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose 28 the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 1 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 2 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 3 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 4 6.4 Withdrawal of “CONFIDENTIAL” Designation. At its discretion, a 5 Designating Party may remove Protected Material from some or all of the protections 6 and provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order at any time by any of the following 7 methods: 8 (a) Express Written Withdrawal. A Designating Party may withdraw a 9 “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any specified Protected Material from some 10 or all of the protections of this Stipulated Protective Order by an express withdrawal in 11 writing signed by the Designating Party or Designating Party’s counsel (but not 12 including staff of such counsel) that specifies and itemizes the Disclosure or Discovery 13 Material previously designated as Protected Material that shall not longer be subject to 14 some or all of the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. Such express 15 withdrawal shall be effective when transmitted or served upon the Receiving Party. If 16 a Designating Party is withdrawing Protected Material from only some of the 17 provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order, the Designating Party must 18 state which specific provisions are no longer to be enforced as to the specified material 19 for which confidentiality protection hereunder is withdrawn: otherwise, such 20 withdrawal shall be construed as a withdrawal of such material from all of the 21 protections/provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order; 22 (b) Express Withdrawal on the Record. A Designating Party may withdraw 23 a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any specified Protected Material from all 24 of the provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order by verbally consenting 25 in court proceedings on the record to such withdrawal – provided that such withdrawal 26 specifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material previously designated as Protected 27 Material shall no longer be subject to any of the provisions of this Stipulation and 28 Order; 1 (c) Implicit Withdrawal by Publication or Failure to Oppose Challenge. A 2 Designating Party shall be construed to have withdrawn a “CONFIDENTIAL” 3 designation made to any specified Protected Material from all of the 4 provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order by either (1) making such 5 Protected Material part of the public record – including but not limited to attaching 6 such as exhibits to any filing with the court without moving, prior to such filing, for 7 the court to seal such records; or (2) failing to timely oppose a Challenging Party’s 8 motion to remove a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation to specified Protected Material. 9 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 11 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 12 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 13 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 14 conditions prescribed in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 15 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 16 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 17 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 18 authorized under this Order. 19 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 20 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 21 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” 22 only to: 23 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 24 as employees of such Counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the 25 information for this Action; 26 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 27 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 28 1 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (d) the court and its personnel; 5 (e) court reporters and their staff; 6 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 7 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 8 signed the “ Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 10 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 11 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 12 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 13 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will 14 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 15 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed 16 by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition 17 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately 18 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 19 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 20 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 21 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 22 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 23 OTHER LITIGATION 24 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 25 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 26 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 27 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 28 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 1 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 2 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 3 order is subject to Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 4 Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 6 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 8 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 9 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 10 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 11 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 12 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 13 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive 14 from another court. 15 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 16 IN THIS LITIGATION 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced 19 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 20 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting 21 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 22 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 23 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 24 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 25 information, then the Party shall: 26 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 27 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 28 with a Non-Party; 1 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 2 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 3 specific description of the information requested; and 4 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 5 Non-Party, if requested. 6 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 7 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 8 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 9 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 10 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 11 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order 12 to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection 13 in this court of its Protected Material. 14 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 17 Stipulation and Order, the Receiving Party must immediately: (a) notify in writing the 18 Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all 19 unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 20 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) 21 request such person or persons execute the Acknowledgement and Agreement to Be 22 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 23 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 24 PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 26 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 27 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 28 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 1 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 2 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 3 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 4 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 5 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to 6 the court. 7 12. MISCELLANEOUS 8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek modification by the Court in the future. 10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing of Protected Material. A party that seeks to file under seal any 16 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 17 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 18 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is 19 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 20 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 21 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 22 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 23 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 24 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 25 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 26 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 27 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party 28 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person 1 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 2 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 3 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 4 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 5 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 6 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 7 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, 8 attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials 9 contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute 10 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 11 (DURATION). 12 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures 13 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 14 15 16 Dated: February 20, 2024 GASTÉLUM LAW, APC

17 By: /s/Denisse O. Gastélum 18 Denisse O. Gastélum, Esq. Attorneys for Plaintiffs, 19 ESTATE OF MICHAEL VASQUEZ, et al. 20 21 Dated: February 20, 2024 LAW OFFICES OF CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS 22 A Professional Law Corporation 23 By: /s/Christian Contreras 24 Christian Contreras, Esq. 25 Attorneys for Plaintiffs, ESTATE OF MICHAEL VASQUEZ, et al. 26

28 , DATED: February 20, 2024 LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH LLP 2 3 By: /s/Lilit Arabyan TONY M. SAIN 4 LILIT ARABYAN 5 ABIGAIL J. R. MCLAUGHLIN Attorneys for Defendant, 6 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, e¢ al. 7 8 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 || Dated: February 21, 2024 10 : 11 Hon. David T. BAgtow

3 United States Magistrate Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 18

1 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that 5 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued 6 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the 7 case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number and initials 8 assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of 9 this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is 12 subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the 14 jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California for 15 the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such 16 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint 17 __________________________ [print or type full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 Order. 22 Date: ______________________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 24 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 Signature: __________________________________ 27

28 1 *Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(2), the filer attests that all signatories listed, and on 2 whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the filing. 3

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