Griffith v. Davis

161 F.R.D. 687, 32 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1322, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13882, 1995 WL 361063
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJune 9, 1995
DocketNo. CV 94-4744-JSL (AJWx)
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 161 F.R.D. 687 (Griffith v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffith v. Davis, 161 F.R.D. 687, 32 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1322, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13882, 1995 WL 361063 (C.D. Cal. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER

WISTRICH, United States Magistrate Judge.

PROCEEDINGS

On April 21,1995, defendant United States filed a motion for a protective order authorizing it to withhold from production to plaintiffs a memorandum prepared by Special Agent John Rabatin. On April 24, 1995, defendant Davis filed a similar motion for a protective order, based upon separate grounds. Plaintiffs filed an opposition to both motions on May 3, 1995. Defendant Davis filed a reply on May 12, 1995. The matter was heard on May 18, 1995. On May 19, 1995, the Court ordered defendants to produce the document at issue for possible in camera review. Defendant Davis submitted the memorandum on May 30, 1995, along with an objection to the possible in camera review. On June 5, 1995, plaintiffs filed a reply to defendant’s objection.1 On June 7, [690]*6901995, defendant United States filed an ex parte application for leave to file the declaration of Agent Rabatin in support of its motion. Plaintiffs filed an opposition to the application on June 9, 1995. The application was granted on June 9, 1995.

FACTS

On July 14, 1994, plaintiffs filed this action against defendant Special Agent Davis and other unnamed federal officers, alleging both common law and Bivens claims.2 Plaintiffs’ claims are based upon a July 16, 1993 incident, during which defendant Davis shot and killed plaintiffs’ decedent. At the time of the incident, defendant Davis was employed by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). After the incident, the IRS conducted an administrative investigation of the incident, in order to determine wither defendant Davis was guilty of misconduct. Special Agent Rabatin of the Regional Inspector’s Office was assigned to conduct the investigation. [McGraw Deck at 4; Rabatin Deck at 3]. Although the record is unclear, the investigation evidently commenced as early as March, 1994.3

At some point after the incident, defendant Davis requested that the United States Attorney General certify that he was acting within the cope of his employment at the time of the incident. In October 1994, the Attorney General’s designee determined that defendant Davis was acting within the scope of his employment pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act. [McGraw Deck at 2]. On January 19, 1995, the United States filed a certification to that effect, and substituted itself as the defendant on the common law tort claims. Defendant Davis remains the sole defendant as to the Bivens claims.

Defendant Davis also requested that the United States Department of Justice provide him with legal representation. [Motion, Ex. A (“Davis Deck”) at 21]. As of the date of the hearing on the motions, that request was still pending.

Sometime in the fall of 1994, counsel for defendant Davis and counsel for the United States decided that defendant Davis and defendant United States had a common interest in defending the action, and agreed to pursue a joint defense. [Motion, Ex. B (“Blumen-feld Deck”) at 29; McGraw Deck at 4]. The parameters of the agreement are hazy. The agreement was not written, and the date is described only as “[a]t least as early as October or November of 1994____” [Blumenfeld Deck at 29]. It does not appear that the IRS itself was a party to the agreement. In accordance with that agreement, however, counsel for defendant Davis and the United States, among other things, prepared witnesses together, exchanged information about their separate interviews of various witnesses, and exchanged drafts of documents. [Blumenfeld Deck at 29].

On December 7,1994, counsel for the United States formally requested a litigation report from the IRS, the agency involved in the action. [McGraw Deck at 2-3]. Counsel for the United States was informed that Agent Rabatin, who was already involved in conducting the administrative investigation of defendant Davis, would also conduct the investigation in support of the litigation. [McGraw Deck at 2; Rabatin Deck at 2-3].

On December 13, 1994, Agent Rabatin and another federal agent met with defendant Davis. Defendant Davis’ counsel, James R. Asperger and Stan Blumenfeld also were present. [Blumenfeld Deck at 30]. Stephen McGraw, counsel for the United States, did not participate in the meeting. Prior to that date, Mr. Blumenfeld and Mr. McGraw had discussed the meeting, and had agreed that [691]*691the interview of defendant Davis would be kept “confidential.” [Blumenfeld Decl. at 30; McGraw Decl. at 3]. Agent Rabatin also spoke with Mr. Blumenfeld prior to the interview, and “assured him that information obtained in the interview would only be disseminated to appropriate officials in the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury.” [Rabatin Decl. at 3]. As explained by Agent Rabatin, he “expected that the information provided in the interview would be revealed only to authorized persons in the Department of the Treasury on a need-to-know basis, and to attorneys of the Department of Justice for the purpose of defending plaintiffs’ tort claim against the United States.” [Rabatin Decl. at 3-4].

According to defendant Davis, he believed that his communications during the interview would be used by the Justice Department to decide whether to grant his request for legal representation, and that his communications would remain “confidential.” [Davis Decl. at 22-23]. In his deposition, defendant Davis testified that, based upon Agent Rabatin’s statements to him, defendant Davis believed that he was required to attend the meeting in order to provide the IRS with a statement about the incident in connection with its administrative investigation. [De Simone Decl., Ex. A at 6-8]. Defendant Davis understood that the report of his interview “could be used ... for an administrative review of the incident related to the lawsuit.” [Davis Decl. at 23].

Following the meeting, Agent Rabatin contacted Mr. McGraw to report what had been discussed, and prepared a memorandum summarizing his interview of defendant Davis. [Rabatin Decl. at 4], That interview memorandum, which was dated December 13, 1994, was attached as an exhibit to the litigation report sent to Mr. McGraw. The interview memorandum also was attached to an administrative investigation report distributed to various unidentified IRS officials involved in the administrative review of defendant Davis’ conduct. [McGraw Decl. at 3; Rabatin Decl. at 4]. As explained by counsel for the United States during the hearing, the litigation report and the administrative report differed because they were intended for different audiences and designed to serve different purposes. It is the interview memorandum which defendants seek to protect from discovery.

DISCUSSION

I. Defendant Davis’ assertion of the “joint defense privilege” and the attorney-client privilege.

Defendant Davis asserts that the memorandum is not subject to discovery because of what he considers to be three distinct and independent privileges: (1) the attorney-client privilege; (2) the attorney work product doctrine; and (3) the “joint defense privilege.” In addition, it appears that defendant Davis is actually asserting two separate variations of the “joint defense privilege”: (a) the common defense doctrine, and (b) the joint-client doctrine. Neither doctrine, however, creates a separate privilege independent of the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine.

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Bluebook (online)
161 F.R.D. 687, 32 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1322, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13882, 1995 WL 361063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffith-v-davis-cacd-1995.