Jessica Miller, individually and as Guardian ad Litem for her child S.H., Anna Miller v. County of Shasta, Alicia Endecott, David Heddrick, Jenifer Rowe, Eletra Monna, Bonnie Bartlett, City of Redding, Orlando Rabon, Mark Montgomery, and Does 1-10 inclusive

• Court: District Court, E.D. California
• Decided: September 10, 2025
• Docket: 2:24-cv-02131
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1||\PORTER SCOTT 2 A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION John R. Whitefleet, SBN 213301 3 2180 Harvard Street, Suite 500 Sacramento, California 95815 4 jwhitefleet@porterscott.com TEL: 916.929.1481 5 FAX: 916.927.3706 6 || Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY OF SHASTA, ALICIA ENDECOTT, DAVID HEDDRICK, JENIFER ROWE, ELETRA MONNA, BONNIE BARTLETT 7 (Exempt from Filing Fees Pursuant to Government Code § 6103) 8 ? UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 JESSICA MILLER, individually and as Case No. 2:24-cv-02131-TLN-DMC Guardian ad Litem for her child S.H., ANNA 13 |} MILLER, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 14 Plaintiffs, 15

16 Complaint Filed: 08/07/2024 COUNTY OF SHASTA, ALICIA 17 ENDECOTT, DAVID HEDRICK, JENIFER 18 ROWE, ELETRA MONNA, BONNIE BARTLETT, CITY OF REDDING, 19 |} ORLANDO RABON, MARK MONTGOMERY, and Does 1-10 inclusive, 7] Defendants. / 22 23 Plaintiffs JESSICA MILLER, individually and as Guardian ad Litem for her child S.H., and ANN 24 || MILLER (“Plaintiffs”), and Defendants COUNTY OF SHASTA, ALICIA ENDECOTT, DAVI 25 || HEDRICK, JENIFER ROWE, ELETRA MONNA, BONNIE BARTLETT, CITY OF REDDIN¢ 26 |} ORLANDO RABON, and MARK MONTGOMERY (collectively, “Defendants”), by and through the 27 || respective counsel of record, hereby submit the following Stipulated Protective order. 28 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 4867-6989-4397, v. 1

1 I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private 3 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 4 prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the 5 Court to enter the following Stipulation and Proposed Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 6 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection 7 it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to 8 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in 9 Section XIII(C), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 10 information under seal; Eastern District 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the 11 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 12 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 13 The confidential information of minors and other parties involved in the underlying juvenile matter 14 proceeding which form the basis of, and give rise to, the instant litigation are protected under California 15 Welfare and Institutions Code § 827. In addition to the confidential records of minors and other parties, this 16 litigation is likely to involve confidential and/or privileged law enforcement records, which are subject to 17 numerous statutory protections, including Penal Code section 832.7 and/or Evidence Code section 1040, 18 and/or employment records. The information contained in many of the records and documents likely to be 19 sought in discovery thus constitutes confidential and private information for which special protection from 20 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 21 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, but are not limited to, confidential 22 employment and training records, medical records, psychological records, juvenile case files and related 23 records (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), police reports and related law 24 enforcement records, and other information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 25 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, 26 or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of 27 disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled 28 to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 1 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the 2 ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties 3 that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 4 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non public manner, and there is 5 good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 6 III. DEFINITIONS 7 A. Action: The above captioned matter. 8 B. Challenging Party: A Party or Non Party that challenges the designation of information or 9 items under this Order. 10 C. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it is generated, 11 stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of 12 Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 13 D. Counsel: Counsel of Record for the parties as well as their support staff. 14 E. Designating Party: A Party or Non Party that designates information or items that it 15 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 F. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All documents or information, regardless of the medium 17 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained, that are produced or generated in 18 disclosures or responses to written discovery in this matter. 19 G. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the 20 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as 21 a consultant in this Action. 22 H. Non Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity 23 not named as a Party to this action. 24 I. Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to this Action but are 25 retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have appeared in this Action on 26 behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that 27 party, and includes support staff. 28 / / / 1 J. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees, 2 consultants, Experts, and Counsel of Record (and their support staffs). 3 K. Producing Party: A Party or Non Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material in 4 this Action. 5 L. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g., 6 photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and 7 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and 8 subcontractors. 9 M. Protected Material: Any Document, written Disclosure or written Discovery Material that 10 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 11 N. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a Producing 12 Party. 13 IV. SCOPE 14 A. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 15 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 16 Protected Material; and (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 17 Protected Material. 18 B. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. 19 This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 20 V. DURATION 21 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as confidential or maintained 22 pursuant to this Protective Order that is admitted into evidence becomes public and will be presumptively 23 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 24 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. 25 City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180 81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing a “good cause” 26 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits 27 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this Protective Order do not extend 28 beyond the commencement of the trial. All parties reserve the right to separately seek a Court order 1 regarding the confidentiality of any records at that time and do not waive any such objections by signing 2 this Stipulation and Proposed Protective Order. 3 VI. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 a. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection 5 1. Each Party or Non Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must 6 take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate 7 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 8 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the 9 material, documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 10 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 11 2. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for 12 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties 13 that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 14 B. Manner and Timing of Designations 15 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section B(2)(b) below), or as otherwise 16 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order 17 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 18 2. Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 19 a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but excluding transcripts 20 of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, 21 the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains 22 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 23 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 24 markings in the margins). 25 b. A Party or Non Party that makes original documents available for inspection need not designate 26 them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which documents it would like 27 copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 28 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 1 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 2 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 3 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that 4 contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for 5 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 6 appropriate markings in the margins). 7 c. For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party identify the Disclosure or Discovery 8 Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all protected testimony. 9 d. For information produced in form other than document and for any other tangible items, that the 10 Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which 11 the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the 12 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 13 protected portion(s). 14 C. Inadvertent Failure to Designate 15 1. If corrected within 30 days of the time any inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or 16 items, then such failure does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure 17 protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving 18 Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 19 provisions of this Order. 20 VII. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 21 A. Timing of Challenges 22 1. Any party or Non Party may challenge a designation of confidentiality at any time that is 23 consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 24 B. Meet and Confer 25 1. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process under Local Rule 251 et seq. 26 C. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating 27 Party. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality 28 designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of 1 protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court 2 rules on the challenge. 3 VIII. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 A. Basic Principles 5 1. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or 6 by a Non Party in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to 7 settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons 8 and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 9 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section XIV below. 10 2. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a 11 secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. 12 B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items 13 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Parties, a Party may disclose 14 any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 15 a. The Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of 16 Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 17 b. The officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Party to whom 18 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 c. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for 20 this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 21 A); 22 d. The Court and its personnel; 23 e. Court reporters and their staff; 24 f. Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure 25 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and 26 Agreement to be Bound” attached as Exhibit A hereto; 27 g. The author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person 28 who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 1 h. During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (i) the deposing party requests that the witness sign 3 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound;” and (ii) they will not be permitted to keep 4 any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 5 Bound,” unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 6 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 7 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 8 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 9 i. Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed upon by any 10 of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 11 IX. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 12 IN OTHER LITIGATION 13 A. If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels 14 disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that 15 Party must: 16 1. Promptly notify in writing the Parties. Such notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or 17 court order; 18 2. Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other 19 litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this 20 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 21 3. Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the Parties whose 22 Protected Material may be affected. 23 B. If a Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order 24 shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a 25 determination by the Court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has 26 obtained the other Party’s permission. The Party seeking protection shall bear the burden and 27 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these 28 provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging another Party in this Action to 1 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 2 X. A NON PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 3 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 4 A. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non Party in this Action and 5 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non Parties in connection with 6 this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 7 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non Party from seeking additional protections. 8 B. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non Party’s 9 confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non 10 Party not to produce the Non Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 11 1. Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non Party that some or all of the information 12 requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non Party; 13 2. Promptly provide the Non Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the 14 relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested; 15 and 16 3. Make the information requested available for inspection by the Non Party, if requested. 17 C. If the Non Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of receiving the notice 18 and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non Party’s confidential 19 information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non Party timely seeks a protective order, the 20 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 21 confidentiality agreement with the Non Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 22 order to the contrary, the Non Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 23 court of its Protected Material. 24 XI. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 A. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material 26 to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the 27 Receiving Party must immediately (1) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 28 disclosures, (2) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) 1 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this 2 Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to 3 be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 4 XII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED 5 OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 A. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced 7 material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties 8 are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 9 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e discovery order that provides for production 10 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 11 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by 12 the attorney client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement 13 in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted to the Court. 14 XIII. MISCELLANEOUS 15 A. Right to Further Relief 16 1. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the 17 future. 18 B. Right to Assert Other Objections 19 1. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would 20 have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 21 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to 22 use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 23 C. Filing Protected Material 24 1. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with Local Rule 141. 25 Protected Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of 26 the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is 27 denied by the Court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 28 otherwise instructed by the Court. 1 XIV. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 A. After the final disposition of this Action, within sixty (60) days of a written request by the 3 Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party 4 or destroy such material with the exception of juvenile case file materials to which the particular 5 party was a party in the underlying juvenile dependency action. As used in this subdivision, “all 6 Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format 7 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are 8 entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 9 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney 10 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 11 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 12 this Protective Order as set forth in Section V. 13 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 14 15 Dated: September 10, 2025 POWELL & ASSOCIATES 16 (as authorized on 09/05/2025) By /s/ Robert R. Powell 17 Robert R. Powell 18 Attorneys for Plaintiffs JESSICA MILLER, individually and as Guardian ad Litem for her child 19 S.H., ANNA MILLER 20 21 Dated: September 10, 2025 PORTER SCOTT A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION 22

23 By /s/ John R. Whitefleet John R. Whitefleet 24 Attorneys for Defendants COUNTY OF SHASTA, ALICIA ENDECOTT, DAVID HEDDRICK, 25 JENIFER ROWE, ELETRA MONNA, 26 BONNIE BARTLETT 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 Dated: September 10, 2025 Orbach Huff & Henderson LLP 2 (as authorized on 09/05/2025) By /s/ Kevin E. Gilbert 3 Kevin E. Gilbert, Esq. 4 Carolyn M. Aguilar, Esq. Attorneys for Defendants CITY OF REDDING, 5 ORLANDO RABON, and MARK MONTGOMERY 6

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11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 ORDER 2 Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties, and for good cause shown, IT IS SO ORDERED. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT: 4 1. Requests to seal documents shall be made by motion before the same judge who will decide the 5 matter related to that request to seal. 6 2. The designation of documents (including transcripts of testimony) as confidential pursuant to this 7 order does not automatically entitle the parties to file such a document with the court under seal. Parties are 8 advised that any request to seal documents in this district is governed by Local Rule 141. In brief, Local 9 Rule 141 provides that documents may only be sealed by a written order of the court after a specific request 10 to seal has been made. L.R. 141(a). However, a mere request to seal is not enough under the local rules. 11 In particular, Local Rule 141(b) requires that “[t]he ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory 12 or other authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be 13 permitted access to the document, and all relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). 14 3. A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that “compelling 15 reasons” support secrecy; however, where the material is, at most, “tangentially related” to the merits of a 16 case, the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler 17 Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096-1102 (9th Cir. 2016); Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 18 1172, 1178-80 (9th Cir. 2006). 19 4. Nothing in this order shall limit the testimony of parties or non-parties, or the use of certain 20 documents, at any court hearing or trial – such determinations will only be made by the court at the hearing 21 or trial, or upon an appropriate motion. 22 5. With respect to motions regarding any disputes concerning this protective order which the parties 23 cannot informally resolve, the parties shall follow the procedures outlined in Local Rule 251. Absent a 24 showing of good cause, the court will not hear discovery disputes on an ex parte basis or on shortened time. 25 6. The parties may not modify the terms of this Protective Order without the court’s approval. If the 26 parties agree to a potential modification, they shall submit a stipulation and proposed order for the court’s 27 consideration. 28 / / / ] 7. Pursuant to Local Rule 141.1(f), the court will not retain jurisdiction over enforcement of tl 2 || terms of this Protective Order after the action is terminated. 3 4 IS SO ORDERED. 5 6 Dated: September 10, 2025 Sco 7 DENNIS M. COTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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14 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 4867-6989-4397, v. 1