Estate of Sherrano Stingley v. County of Sacramento

Opinion

1 || Mark E. Merin (State Bar No. 043849) Paul H. Masuhara (State Bar No. 289805) 2 LAW OFFICE OF MARK E. MERIN 3 1010 F Street, Suite 300 Sacramento, California 95814 4|| Telephone: (916) 443-6911 Facsimile: (916) 447-8336 5 || E-Mail: mark@markmerin.com 6 paul@markmerin.com 7 Attorneys for Plaintiffs ESTATE OF SHERRANO STINGLEY, 8 DYMIN STINGLEY, S:S., and ANNETTE HILBURN 9 19 ||PORTER SCOTT A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 11 || Carl L. Fessenden, SBN 161494 cfessenden@porterscott.com 12 || Suli A. Mastorakos, SBN 330383 smastorakos@porterscott.com 350 University Ave., Suite 200 14 Sacramento, California 95825 TEL: 916.929.1481 15 || FAX: 916.927.3706 16 Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S 18 DEPARTMENT, SCOTT JONES, FREDDY MARTINEZ, RACHELL VILLEGAS, 19 BRITTANY LINDE, and BRANDON SWAIM 20 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 21 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 22 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 23 || ESTATE OF SHERRANO STINGLEY, et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-00255-TLN-AC 24 Plaintiffs, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 25 || vs RE: PSYCH EVALUATIONS; [PROPOSED] ORDER 26 || COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, et al., 27 Defendants. 28

1 STIPULATION 2 A. PURPOSE AND LIMITATION 3 Defendants believe that the disclosure and discovery activity concerning the materials described 4 in this stipulated protective order is likely to involve production of information for which protection from 5 public disclosure would be warranted. Plaintiffs have not been permitted to view the materials described 6 in this stipulated protective order. The parties acknowledge that this protective order does not confer 7 blanket protections on all disclosures or discovery activity, and that the protection it affords extends only 8 to the limited information or items that are entitled to such protection under Federal Rule of Civil 9 Procedure 26(c). The parties further acknowledge that this stipulated protective order does not entitle any 10 party to file information designated as protected or confidential under seal, where Local Rule 141 sets 11 forth the procedures that must be followed and reflects the standards that will be applied when a party 12 seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 13 B. DEFINITIONS 14 The following definitions shall apply to this Protective Order: 15 1. The “Action” shall mean and refer to the above-captioned matter and to all actions now or 16 later consolidated with the Action, and any appeal from the Action and from any other action 17 consolidated at any time under the above-captioned matter, through final judgment. 18 2. “Documents” or “Confidential Documents” shall mean the documents that Defendants 19 designate as “Confidential” and described in section C. 20 3. “Confidential” shall mean information designated “Confidential” pursuant to this 21 stipulated protective order. Information designated “Confidential” shall be information that is determined 22 in good faith by the attorneys representing the designating party to be subject to protection pursuant to 23 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). Confidential documents, material, and/or information shall be 24 used solely for purposes of litigation. Confidential information shall not be used by the non-designating 25 party for any business or other purpose, unless agreed to in writing by all parties to this action or as 26 authorized by further order of the Court. 27 4. “Defendants” shall mean the COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, SACRAMENTO 28 COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, SCOTT JONES, FREDDY MARTINEZ, RACHELL 1 VILLEGAS, BRITTANY LINDE, and BRANDON SWAIM, and any other Defendants that may 2 subsequently be added to this action (for example, “DOE 1 to 10”). 3 5. “Plaintiffs” shall mean the ESTATE OF SHERRANO STINGLEY, DYMIN STINGLEY, 4 S.S., and ANNETTE HILBURN. 5 6. “Parties” shall mean Plaintiffs and Defendants, identified above. 6 C. INFORMATION COVERED 7 Covered Information: 8 Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(c)(1), a description of the information eligible for protection under 9 this stipulated protective order is limited to the following: 10 1. Psychological/Psychiatric Evaluations of Freddy Martinez (DEF 06213) 11 2. Psychological/Psychiatric Evaluations of Rachell Villegas (DEF 06215) 12 3. Psychological/Psychiatric Evaluations of Brittany Linde (DEF 06212) 13 4. Psychological/Psychiatric Evaluations of Brandon Swaim (DEF 06214) 14 Particularized Need for Protection: 15 Pursuant to Local Rule141.1(c)(2), Defendants assert that there exists a specific, particularized 16 need for protection as to the information covered by this stipulated protective order. Defendants 17 represented to the Court and Plaintiffs that the materials designated to be covered by this stipulated 18 protective order are limited solely to those which would qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 19 Civil Procedure 26(c), and does not include information designated on a blanket or indiscriminate basis. 20 See, e.g., In Re Roman Catholic Archbishop of Portland, 661 F.3d 417, 424 (9th Cir. 2011). 21 Showing of Need for a Protective Order: 22 Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(c)(3), protection afforded by this stipulated protective order is for 23 the convenience of Defendants and the Court. Defendants seek to avoid litigation and expenditure of 24 resources concerning a potential motion for protective order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25 26(c). The entry of this stipulated protective order may prevent the parties and the Court from conducting 26 the usual document-by-document analysis necessary to obtain protection, in favor of a procedure 27 whereby presumptive protection is afforded based on Defendants’ good faith representations of the need 28 for protection. See, e.g., Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 785 F.2d 1108, 1122 (3d Cir. 1986) (“[T]he 1 burden of justifying the confidentiality of each and every document sought to be covered by a protective 2 order remains on the party seeking the protective order; any other conclusion would turn Rule 26(c) on 3 its head.”). As a result, production may be made with this stipulated protective order in place and, if 4 necessary, it will permit discrete and narrowed challenges to documents designated for protection. 5 D. TERMS OF THE PROTECTIVE ORDER 6 Confidential Documents subject to protection may be designated as “Confidential” and produced 7 subject to this stipulated protective order: 8 1. The Confidential documents shall be used solely in connection with the above-captioned 9 civil case, and in the preparation and trial of the case. The parties do not waive any objections to the 10 admissibility of the documents or portions thereof in future proceedings in this case, including trial. 11 2. The parties will designate the Confidential documents as confidential by affixing a mark 12 labelling them “Confidential.” 13 3. The Confidential documents may only be disclosed to the following persons: 14 a. Plaintiffs, Mark E. Merin and Paul H. Masuhara of the Law Office of Mark E. 15 Merin, and any partners and associates in that office; 16 b. Defendants, Carl L. Fessenden and Suli A. Mastorakos of Porter Scott, and any 17 partners and associates in that office; 18 c. Paralegal, clerical, and secretarial personnel or support staff regularly employed by 19 counsel referred to in subparts (a) and (b) immediately above, including stenographic deposition 20 reporters or videographers retained in connection with this action; 21 d. Court personnel, including stenographic reporters or videographers engaged in 22 proceedings as are necessarily incidental to the preparation for the trial in the civil action; 23 e. Any expert, consultant, or investigator retained in connection with this action; 24 however, such persons must be advised of and abide by this protective order; 25 f. The finder of facts at the time of trial, subject to the court’s rulings on in limine 26 motions and objections of counsel; and 27 g. Witnesses during their depositions in this action. If confidential documents are 28 used in the deposition, the documents must be identified as “Confidential” and the portion of the 1 deposition in which the documents are described should also be considered confidential. 2 4. Information covered by this stipulated protective order does not automatically entitle the 3 parties to file such information or documents with the Court under seal. Any request to seal documents is 4 governed by Local Rule 141. If the Confidential documents are filed with any motion or other pleading, a 5 party may seek permission from the Court to file the Confidential Documents under seal according to 6 Local Rule 141. If permission is granted, the Confidential documents will be filed and served in 7 accordance with Local Rule 141. 8 5. The designation of the Confidential documents as “Confidential” and the subsequent 9 production thereof is without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose the admissibility of the 10 Confidential documents or information contained therein. 11 6. Any party or non-party may challenge a Confidential designation at any time. A party or 12 non-party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a 13 challenge promptly after the original designation is disclosed. The challenging party shall initiate the 14 dispute resolution process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and 15 describing the basis for each challenge. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith 16 and must begin the process by conferring directly (in person or voice-to-voice dialogue; other forms of 17 communication are not sufficient) within seven (7) days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the 18 challenging party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper 19 and must give the designating party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the 20 circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. 21 A challenging party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this 22 meet and confer process first or establishes that the designating party is unwilling to participate in the 23 meet and confer process in a timely manner. If the parties cannot resolve a challenge without Court 24 intervention, the designating party shall file and serve a motion for protective order/to retain 25 confidentiality pursuant Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and Local Rule 251 within twenty-one 26 (21) days of the initial notice of challenge or within seven (7) days of the parties agreeing that the meet 27 and confer process will not resolve their dispute, whichever is earlier. Failure by the designating party to 28 make such a motion within twenty-one (21) days (or seven (7) days, if applicable) shall automatically 1 waive the “Confidential” designation for each challenged designation. In addition, the challenging party 2 may file a motion challenging a confidentiality designation at any time if there is good cause for doing 3 so. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the designating party, 4 consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). Unless the designating party has waived the 5 confidentiality designation by failing to file a motion for protective order/to retain confidentiality as 6 described above, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to 7 which it is entitled under the designating party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 8 7. Should the Confidential documents or any information contained therein be disclosed, 9 through inadvertence or otherwise, to any person not authorized to receive it under this stipulated 10 protective order, the disclosing person(s) shall promptly (a) inform counsel for the Defendants of the 11 recipient(s) and the circumstances of the unauthorized disclosure to the relevant producing person(s) and 12 (b) use best efforts to bind the recipient(s) to the terms of this stipulated protective order. 13 8. The Confidential documents shall not lose its confidential status because it was 14 inadvertently or unintentionally disclosed to a person not authorized to receive it under this stipulated 15 protective order. 16 9. The protections conferred by this stipulated protective order cover the information defined 17 above, as well as any information copied from the materials. However, the protections conferred by this 18 stipulated protective order do not cover: (A) any information that is in the public domain at the time of 19 disclosure or which subsequently becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure, including 20 becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (B) any information known prior to the 21 disclosure or obtained after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and 22 under no obligation of confidentiality. 23 10. After the conclusion of this litigation, the Confidential documents will remain 24 confidential. “Conclusion” of this litigation means a termination of the case following a trial, settlement, 25 or dismissal of the action with prejudice for any other reason. 26 11. This stipulated protective order shall remain in full force and effect and shall continue to 27 be binding on all parties and affected persons until this litigation terminates, subject to any subsequent 28 modifications of this stipulated protective order for good cause shown by this Court or any Court having 1 || jurisdiction over an appeal of this action. Upon termination of this litigation, the parties agree the 2 || stipulated protective order shall continue in force as a private agreement between the parties. 3 12. The parties may request additional records to be subject to this stipulated protective order. 4 || If a party believes a document to be produced should be subject to this stipulated protective order, the 5 || parties must meet and confer. If there is agreement, the parties shall submit an amendment to this 6 || stipulated protective order to identify the additional documents. If the parties cannot agree, the party 7 || seeking protection shall file a motion for protective order pursuant to the terms of Local Rule 251. 8 13. During the pendency of this lawsuit, the Court may (a) make such amendments, 9 || modifications, and/or additions to this stipulated protective order as deemed appropriate upon good cause 10 || shown; and (b) adjudicate any dispute arising under it. 1] IT IS SO STIPULATED. 12 || Dated: May 30, 2024 Respectfully Submitted, 3 LAW OFFICE OF MARK E. MERIN /s/ Mark E. Merin 14 15 By: Mark E. Merin 16 Paul H. Masuhara 7 Attorneys for Plaintiffs ESTATE OF SHERRANO STINGLEY, 18 DYMIN STINGLEY, S:S., and ANNETTE HILBURN 19 20 || Dated: May 29, 2024 Respectfully Submitted, PORTER SCOTT 21 02 /s/ Suli A. Mastorakos (as authorized on May 29, 2024) 23 By: Carl L. Fessenden 24 Suli A. Mastorakos 25 Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO, 26 SACRAMENTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT, SCOTT JONES, 27 FREDDY MARTINEZ, RACHELL VILLEGAS 28 BRITTANY LINDE, and BRANDON SWAIM

1 [PROPOSED] ORDER 2 The parties’ stipulated protective order is GRANTED. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4|| Dated: May 30, 2024 ~ 5 Chtten— Lhane ALLISON CLAIRE 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 BB