Gamaliel Ayon Nunez; Maria Cristina Lozoya Melendez; Isak Francisco Rodriguez Lozoya; Cristian Isais Rodriguez Lozoya; Ivan Damian Rodriguez Lozoya v. County of Riverside; Deputy R. Gale; and Does 1-20, inclusive

District Court, C.D. California·Decided August 6, 2026·No. 5:26-cv-02786·Unknown

Opinion

Dean Gazzo Roistacher LLP Mitchell D. Dean, Esq. (SBN 128926) 440 Stevens Avenue, Suite 100 Solana Beach, CA 92075 Telephone: (858) 380-4683 Facsimile: (858) 492-0486 E-mail: mdean@deangazzo.com

Attorneys for Defendants, County of Riverside and Deputy R. Gale

GAMALIEL AYON NUNEZ; Case No.: 5:26-cv-002786-SSS (SPx) MARIA CRISTINA LOZOYA MELENDEZ; ISAK FRANCISCO STIPULATED PROTECTIVE RODRIGUEZ LOZOYA; ORDER LOZOYA; IVAN DAMIAN RODRIGUEZ LOZOYA, [NOTE CHANGES MADE BY COURT IN SECTIONS 11 AND 12.3] Plaintiffs,

v.

COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE; DEPUTY R. GALE; and DOES 1- 20, inclusive,

Defendants.

1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 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 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. This action is likely to involve confidential, official, law-enforcement, medical, and private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential, official, and private materials and information consist of, among other things: body-worn camera recordings and associated metadata; Riverside County Sheriff’s Department incident and crime reports, including initial and supplemental reports; search-warrant materials; confidential and private information related to peace officers and department policies, procedures, tactics, and training; and private medical, personal, and third-party information or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. This civil-rights action arises from the execution of a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department search warrant at Plaintiffs’ private residence in Coachella, California, on or about September 11, 2025, in connection with an underlying investigation concerning a reported stolen vehicle (Cal. Veh. Code § 10851). The Complaint alleges claims for excessive force under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, negligence, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and violation of the Bane Act (Cal. Civ. Code § 52.1), including allegations concerning Plaintiff Gamaliel Ayon Nunez’s recent surgical amputation. Discovery is expected to involve body-worn camera recordings that captured the interior of a private residence and the images, voices, and conduct of household members, including minor children; law- enforcement incident and supplemental reports; dispatch and radio communications; photographs; medical and damages information; and private information concerning parties, officers, witnesses, non-party residents, and other third parties. Defendants contend that there is good cause and a particularized need for a protective order to preserve the interests of confidentiality and privacy in peace officer personnel file records and associated investigative or confidential records, and in body-worn camera recordings and law-enforcement reports, for the following reasons. First, 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); 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; Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531. Defendants further contend that uncontrolled disclosure of such personnel file information can threaten the safety of non-party witnesses, officers, and their families and associates. Second, Defendants contend that municipalities and law enforcement agencies have federal deliberative-process privilege, federal official-information privilege, federal law-enforcement privilege, and federal attorney-client privilege (and/or attorney work-product protection) interests in the personnel files of their peace officers and in related investigative records, particularly as to those portions that contain critical self-analysis, internal deliberation or decision-making or evaluation, or communications for the purpose of obtaining or rendering legal advice including but not limited to evaluative or analytical portions of Internal Affairs records or reports, evaluative or analytical portions of supervisory records or reports, and reports prepared at the direction of counsel. See Sanchez, 936 F.2d at 1033-1034; Maricopa Audubon Soc’y v. U.S. Forest Serv., 108 F.3d 1089, 1092- 1095 (9th Cir. 1997); Soto, 162 F.R.D. at 613 & n.4; Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 653, 668-671 (N.D. Cal. 1987); Admiral Ins. Co. v. U.S. Dist. Court, 881 F.2d 1486, 1492, 1495 (9th Cir. 1989). Defendants further contend that such personnel file and investigative records are restricted from disclosure by the public entity’s custodian of records pursuant to applicable 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 law-enforcement investigations; and a chilling of open and honest discussion regarding, or investigation into, alleged misconduct that can erode a public entity’s ability to identify and implement any remedial measures that may be required. Third, Defendants contend that, since peace officers do not have the same 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. Fourth, Defendants contend that the body-worn camera recordings at issue depict the interior of a private residence and the images, voices, medical condition, and conduct of Plaintiffs and other household members, including minor children, at a vulnerable moment. Public dissemination of such recordings, including by posting or uploading to the internet or social media, would invade the substantial privacy interests of parties and non-parties, including minors, and would serve no legitimate litigation purpose. In addition, many policies and procedures documents likely to be requested in discovery contain highly sensitive and confidential materials that deal with Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputies’ tactics and practices, the public disclosure of which will put such deputies’ lives at risk. Public dis

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Gamaliel Ayon Nunez; Maria Cristina Lozoya Melendez; Isak Francisco Rodriguez Lozoya; Cristian Isais Rodriguez Lozoya; Ivan Damian Rodriguez Lozoya v. County of Riverside; Deputy R. Gale; and Does 1-20, inclusive, (C.D. Cal. 2026).

Gamaliel Ayon Nunez; Maria Cristina Lozoya Melendez; Isak Francisco Rodriguez Lozoya; Cristian Isais Rodriguez Lozoya; Ivan Damian Rodriguez Lozoya v. County of Riverside; Deputy R. Gale; and Does 1-20, inclusive (Gamaliel Ayon Nunez; Maria Cristina Lozoya Melendez; Isak Francisco Rodriguez Lozoya; Cristian Isais Rodriguez Lozoya; Ivan Damian Rodriguez Lozoya v. County of Riverside; Deputy R. Gale; and Does 1-20, inclusive) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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Pitchess v. Superior Court
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162 F.R.D. 603 (N.D. California, 1995)