Kevin Lee Howard v. City of West Covina

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: January 14, 2021
• Docket: 2:19-cv-08281
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 || James R. Touchstone, SBN 184584 ones says: com 2 □□□ L. Rocawich, SBN 232792 ones-mayer.com J OMS & MAYER 3777 North Harbor Boulevard 4 || Fullerton, CA 92835 Telephone: 14) 446-1400 5 || Facsimile: (714) 446-1448 6 ptomeys for Defendants CITY OF WEST COVINA, OFFICER MUNOZ, OFFICER BRENES, OFFICER WEISCHEDEL, and OFFICER C. GONZALEZ

Peter L. Carr, IV, State Bar No. 256104 8 || E-Mail: peary@ther LClaweroup.com Na’Shaun L. Neal, State Bar No. 80 9 || E-Mail: pneal ithe ( laweroup.com PLC LA JP, 10 || 3756 Santa Rosalia Dr., Suite 326 Los Angeles, California 90008 11 || Telephone: ow 400-5890 Facsimile: (310) 400-5895 IZ Attorneys for Plaintiff KEVIN LEE HOWARD 13 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 16 || KEVIN LEE HOWARD, Case No.: CV19-08281 CBM (MRW) 7 Judge: Hon. Conseulo B. Marshall Plaintiff, 18 vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 19 | CITY OF WEST COVINA; OFFICER | ORDER 20 | MATTHEW MUNOZ; OFFICER JOSHUA BRENES; OFFICER DOUG 21 | WEISCHEDEL:; OFFICER C. GONZALEZ; and DOES 1 through 10 Inclusive, 23 Defendants. 24 25 26 27 28

1 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), Defendants CITY OF 3 | WEST COVINA, OFFICER MUNOZ, OFFICER BRENES, OFFICER WEISCHEDEL, 4 | and OFFICER C. GONZALEZ and Plaintiff KEVIN LEE HOWARD (collectively "the 5 || Parties"), by their undersigned counsel, agree to be bound to the terms of the 6 || following Protective Order. The Parties represent that pre-trial discovery in this 7 || case 1s likely to include the production of information and/or documents that are 8 || confidential and/or privileged including the production of peace officer personnel 9 || file information and/or documents which the Parties agree includes: (1) Personal 10 || data, including marital status, family members, educational and employment 11 || history, home addresses, or similar information; (2) Medical history; (3) Election 12 || of employee benefits: (4) Employee advancement, appraisal, or discipline; and (5) 13 || Complaints, or investigations of complaints, concerning an event or transaction in 14 || which a peace officer participated, or which a peace officer perceived, and 15 |] pertaining to the manner in which the peace officer performed his or her duties 16 |] including compelled statements by peace officers. Defendants contend that such 17 |] information 1s privileged as official information. Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana, 93 18 |] F.2d 1027, 1033 (9th Cir. Cal. 1990); see also Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for 19 | N.D. Cal., 511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir.1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394, 96 S.Ct. 2119, 48 20 || L-Ed.2d 725 (1976). Further, discovery may require the production of certain West 21 |} Covina Police Department Policies and Procedures not available to the public and 22 || the public disclosure of which could comprise officer safety, raise security issues, 23 || and/or impede investigations. Peace officer personnel file information and/or 24 || documents and security-sensitive policies and procedures are hereinafter referred 25 |] to as "Confidential Information". 26 Defendants contend that that public disclosure of such material poses a 27 || substantial risk of embarrassment, oppression and/or physical harm to peace 28 |] officers whose Confidential Information is disclosed. The Parties further agree that

1 || the risk of harm to peace officers 1s greater than with other government employees 2 || due to the nature of their profession. Finally, the Defendants contend that the 3 || benefit of public disclosure of Confidential Information is minimal while the 4 || potential disadvantages are great. 5 Accordingly, good cause exists for entry of this Protective Order to facilitate 6 || pre-trial disclosure while assuring the safety of these sensitive disclosures. See 7 || Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 26(c). 8 SO STIPULATED Dated: January 11, 2021 Respectfully submitted, JONES & MAYER

IZ By: /s/ Denise L. Rocawich 13 JAMES R. TOUCHSTONE DENISE L. ROCAWICH 14 oe for Defendants ae of West Covina, Officer Carmon 15 and Officer Wiley 16 Dated: January 11, 2021 Respectfully submitted,

18 PLC LAW GROUP 19 By: /s/ Na’Shaun L. Neal 20 NASHAUN NEAL Attorneys for Plaintiff ah Kevin Lee Howard 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 PER THE STIPULATION OF THE PARTIES AND GOOD CAUSE 3 | APPEARING, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the terms and conditions of this 4 || Protective Order shall govern the handling of Discovery Materials containing 5 || Confidential Information in matter of Howard v. West Covina et al. USCD Case 6 || No. CV19-08281 CBM (MRW) ("the Litigation"): 7 1. Applicability of Order: This Order does not and will not govern any 8 || trial proceedings in this Litigation, but will otherwise be applicable to and govern 9 | the handling of documents, depositions, deposition exhibits, interrogatory 10 || responses, responses to requests for admissions, responses to requests for 11 | production of documents, and all other discovery obtained pursuant to the Federal 12 || Rules of Civil Procedure by Plaintiff in connection with the Litigation (this 13 |] information hereinafter referred to as “Discovery Material’). 14 2. Designation of Material: Defendants may designate Discovery 15 || Material that is in their possession, custody or control to be produced to Plaintiff as 16 |] “Confidential Information” under the terms of this Order if Defendants in good 17 || faith reasonably believe that such Discovery Material contains non-public, 18 || confidential material as defined in section 4 below. 19 3. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 20 || Protection: When designating Discovery Material for protection as Confidential 21 |] Information under this Order, Defendants must take care to limit any such 22 |] designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. 23 |] Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 24 4. Confidential Information: For purposes of this Order, Confidential 25 |] Information is any information and/or documents that Defendants believe in good 26 |] faith to be Peace Officer Personnel File Information and/or Documents including: 27 |] (1) Personal data, including marital status, family members, educational and 28 || employment history, home addresses, or similar information; (2) Medical history: zs

1 || (3) Election of employee benefits; (4) Employee advancement, appraisal, or 2 || discipline: and (5) Complaints, or investigations of complaints, concerning an 3 || event or transaction in which a peace officer participated, or which a peace officer 4 || perceived, and pertaining to the manner in which the peace officer performed his 5 | or her duties including compelled statements. Confidential Information is also any 6 || West Covina Police Department Policies and Procedures not available to the public 7 || and the public disclosure of which could comprise officer safety, raise security 8 || issues, and/or impede investigations. 9 5. Designating Confidential Information: The designation of 10 || Discovery Material as Confidential Information for purposes of this Order shall be 11 | made in the following manner: 12 a. Documents: In the case of documents or other materials (apart from 13 depositions or other pre-trial testimony), designation shall be made by 14 stamping “Confidential” to each page containing any Confidential 15 Information. Any such stamp shall not overwrite or otherwise 16 obscure the text or images of any page. b. Deposition and Other Proceedings: In the case of depositions or other 18 pre-trial testimony, designation of the portion of the transcript 19 (including exhibits) which contains Confidential Information shall be 20 made (1) by a statement to such effect on the record during the 21 proceeding in which the testimony is received, or (11) by written notice 22 served on counsel of record in this Litigation within thirty (30) 23 business days after the receipt of the draft transcript of such 24 deposition or other pre-trial proceeding. However, before such thirty 25 (30) day period expires, all testimony, exhibits and transcripts of 26 depositions or other testimony shall be treated as Confidential Information. Thereafter, only those portions properly designated shall 28 be deemed Confidential Information. itt

1 ee Non-Written Materials: Any non-written Confidential Information 2 (e.g., videotape, audio tape, computer disk, etc.) may be designated 3 as such by labeling the outside of such non-written material 4 designated as “Confidential”. In the event Plaintiff generates any 5 “hard copy” transcription or printout from any such designated non- 6 written materials, the person who generates such “hard copy” 7 transcription shall take reasonable steps to maintain the 8 confidentiality of such materials. 9 6. Inadvertent Disclosure: The inadvertent failure to designat 10 || Discovery Information as "Confidential" does not constitute a waiver of such □□□ 11 || and may be remedied by prompt supplemental written notice upon discovery of th 12 |] inadvertent disclosure, with the effect that such Discovery Material will be subjec 13 |] to the protections of this Order. Plaintiff shall exercise good faith efforts to ensur 14 |] that copies they make of Confidential Information produced to him, and copie 15 |] made by others who obtained such Confidential Information directly or indirectl 16 |] from the Plaintiff include the appropriate confidentiality legend, to the same exten 17 || that the Confidential Information has been marked with the appropria 18 | confidentiality legend by the Defendants. 19 7. No Waiver of Privilege: Inadvertent disclosure of Confidential 20 |] Information or otherwise privileged information shall not constitute a waiver of, or 21 |] estoppel as to any claim of privilege. This Order is intended to provide the full 22 |] protection afforded by Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d). 23 8. Claw-Back: Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5), 24 |] upon learning it may have produced Confidential or otherwise privileged 25 || Information, Defendants shall, within ten (10) days of such discovery, request the 26 |] return of such Information in writing by identifying the Confidential or otherwise 27 |] privileged Information and stating the basis on which the Information should be 28 |] withheld from production. After being notified, Plaintiff must promptly return, ae

1 | sequester, or destroy the Confidential or otherwise privileged Information and any 2 | copies, must not use or disclose the Information until the claim is resolved and 3 || must take reasonable steps to retrieve the Confidential or otherwise privileged 4 | Information if he disclosed the Information before being notified. If Plaintiff 5 || dispute Defendants' claim of confidentiality or privilege: they shall notify the 6 || Defendant claiming confidentiality of the dispute and the basis therefore in writing 7 | within thirty (30) days of receipt of the request for the return of the Confidential or 8 || otherwise privileged Information. The Plaintiff and the Defendant claiming 9 | confidentiality shall meet and confer in good faith regarding the disputed claim 10 || within thirty (30) days. In the event that the Plaintiff and the Defendant claiming 11 || confidentiality do not resolve their dispute, either party may bring a motion for a 12 || determination of whether a privilege applies. If such a motion is made, the 13 || Defendant claiming confidentiality shall submit to the Court for in camera review 14 |] under seal a copy of the disputed Information in connection with its motion papers. 15 || The submission to the Court shall not constitute a waiver of any privilege or 16 |] protection. Defendants must preserve the Information claimed to be privileged or 17 |] otherwise protected until the claim is resolved. 18 9. Notes of Confidential Information: Any notes, lists, memoranda, 19 || indices, compilations prepared or based on an examination of Confidential 20 |] Information that quote from or paraphrase, Confidential Information with such 21 |] specificity that the Confidential Information can be identified, or by reasonable 22 |) logical extension can be identified, shall be accorded the same status of 23 |] confidentiality as the underlying Confidential Information from which they are 24 |] made and shall be subject to all of the terms of this Order. 25 10. Persons Authorized To Receive Confidential Information: 26 |] Discovery Material designated “Confidential” may be disclosed, summarized, 27 || described, characterized or otherwise communicated or made available in whole or 28 |] in part only to the following persons: i.

1 a. The Court, persons employed by the Court who are necessary for the 2 handling of the Litigation, and court reporters transcribing the 3 testimony or argument at a hearing, trial or deposition in this 4 Litigation or any appeal there from; 5 b. Counsel of record in this Litigation, as well as paralegals, technical, 6 administrative and clerical employees working under the direct 7 supervision of such counsel: 8 Experts or consultants assisting any counsel of record in this 9 Litigation, provided such experts and consultants agree to be bound 10 by the terms and conditions set forth in the “Agreement Concerning 11 Information Covered by Protective Order” attached hereto as 12 Exhibit "A" prior to the time such information is disclosed; and 13 d. □□ Any other person, only upon order of the Court or upon stipulation 14 of the Parties, and who agrees to be bound by the terms and condition: 15 set forth in the “Agreement Concerning Information Covered by 16 Protective Order” attached hereto as Exhibit "A" prior to the time suc 17 Information is disclosed. However, under no circumstances shall 18 home addresses or telephone numbers of individual Defendants be 19 provided to Plaintiff. 20 11. Use of Confidential Discovery Material: Discovery Material 21 |] containing Confidential Information shall be used solely for purposes of the 22 |) Litigation, including any appeal and re-trial. Any person or entity in possession of 23 || Discovery Material designated Confidential shall maintain those materials in 24 || accordance with Paragraph (storage) below. 25 12. Storage Of Confidential Information: The recipient of any 26 |} Confidential Information that is provided under this Protective Order shall 27 |] maintain such information in a reasonably secure and safe manner that ensures that 28 |] access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. ee

1 13. Filing of Confidential Information: Without written permission 2 || from Defendants or a Court order, Plaintiff may not file in the public record in this 3 || action any Confidential Information. Filing this information in the public record 4 || must occur under seal in compliance with Local Rule 79-5 when seeking to file 5 || Confidential Information under seal. The party desiring to place any Confidential 6 || Information before the Court shall lodge the information in a sealed envelope 7 || along with an application to file the papers or the portion thereof containing 8 || Confidential Information under seal and a copy of a Proposed Order Sealing 9 | Documents. Said envelope shall be endorsed with the title of the Litigation, an 10 || indication of the nature of the contents of such sealed envelope, the identity of the 11 |] party filing the materials, the phrase “Confidential Information” and a statement 12 |] substantially in the following form: THIS ENVELOPE CONTAINS MATERIALS SUBJECT TO A “ PROTECTIVE ORDER ENTERED IN THIS LITIGATION. IT » IS NOT TO BE OPENED NOR ARE ITS CONTENTS TO BE DISPLAYED, REVEALED, OR MADE PULBIC, EXCEPT BY ORDER OF THE COURT. UNLESS THE COURT ORDERS THAT IT NOT BE FILED, IT SHALL BE FILED UNDER SEAL. Additionally, within seven (7) days from the date that the papers (or portions ° thereof) were filed under seal consistent with the above procedures, the party who filed the papers under seal also shall file in the public record a version of the papers that has been redacted to omit the Confidential Information or any references thereto). As for any other information disclosed during discovery and marked “Confidential” that either party wishes to file in the public record in this action in °° support of or in opposition to any motion, the parties shall specifically identify any such documents and seek a stipulation concerning any sealing requirement

1 || therefore during the parties Local Rule 7-3 conference of counsel. If no agreement 2 || can be reached, the party advancing the “confidential” designation bears the 3 | burden of moving to have those documents sealed by the court. 4 14. No Prejudice: Agreeing to be bound by this Protective Order, 5 || agreeing to and/or producing or receiving Confidential Information or otherwise 6 || complying with the terms of this Order shall not: 7 a. Prejudice in any way the nghts of Defendants to object to the 8 production of documents it considers not subject to discovery, or 9 operate as an admission by Defendants that the restrictions and 10 procedures set forth herein constitute adequate protection for any 11 particular information deemed by Defendants to be Confidential 12 Information: 13 b. Prejudice in any way the rights of Defendants to object to the 14 authenticity or admissibility into evidence of any document, 15 testimony or other evidence subject to this Order: 16 ee Prejudice in any way the rights of Defendants to seek a determination by the Court whether any Confidential Information should be subject 18 to the terms of this Order; 19 15. Challenging Designation of Information: Plaintiff may challenge 20 |] the propriety of a Confidential Information designation by providing to the 21 || Defendant claiming confidentiality a writing which briefly: (1) identifies with 22 || reasonable particularity the documents and/or information which are the subject of 23 |] the challenge; and (11) describes the basic legal or factual grounds for the 24 |] challenge. Once a challenge is made, the Defendant claiming confidentiality will 25 |] bear the burden of initiating and conducting a sufficient meet and confer (per Local 26 |] Rule 37-1); and, if necessary, Defendant claiming confidentiality will bear the 27 |] burdens of proof and persuasion in moving for a Protective Order (per Local Rule 28 |] 37-2) to uphold the challenged Confidential Information designation(s). Until the -10-

1 || Court rules on the timely filed Motion for Protective Order, all parties shall 2 || continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 3 | entitled under the claiming Defendants’ designation. 4 16. Additional Parties or Attorneys: In the event additional parties join 5 || or intervene in this action, the newly joined party(ies) shall not have access to 6 || Confidential Information until its counsel has executed an agreement to be fully 7 || bound by this Order. If any additional attorneys make appearances in this 8 || Litigation, those attorneys shall not have access to Confidential Information until 9 || they execute the “Agreement Concerning Information Covered by Protective 10 || Order” attached hereto as Exhibit "A". 11 17. Protective Order Remains In Force: This Protective Order shall 12 |] remain in force and effect until modified, superseded, or terminated by consent of 13 |] the Parties or by order of the Court made upon reasonable written notice. Unless 14 |] otherwise ordered, or agreed upon by the parties, this Protective Order shall 15 |] survive the termination of this action. The Court retains jurisdiction even after 16 |] termination of this action to enforce this Protective Order and to make such 17 || amendments, modifications, deletions and additions to this Protective Order as the 18 || Court may from time to time deem appropriate. 19 18. Conclusion of Litigation: Within ninety (90) days after receiving 20 |] notice of the entry of an order, judgment or decree finally disposing of this 21 |) Litigation, all persons having received Confidential Information shall either return 22 |} such material and all copies thereof to the counsel of the Defendant who 23 |] designated the information as Confidential or destroy all such Confidential 24 |] Information including the Confidential Information Plaintiff provided to other 25 |] persons. In either case, counsel for Plaintiff must certify that fact to the counsel of 26 || the Defendant who designated the information as Confidential. 27 28

1 19. Redaction Allowed: Defendants may redact Confidential Information 2 | from documents and things produced to the extent that such information consists 0 3 || personal identifying information of third parties per Federal Rule of Civil 4 || Procedure 5.2 and Central District Local Rule 5.2-1 and/or personal identifying 5 || information of of peace officers or their family members, such as ID numbers, 6 || phone numbers, addresses, or medical history which is unrelated to any claim or 7 || defense raised in the instant action. Defendants shall mark each thing where matter 8 || has been redacted with a legend stating “REDACTED,” as appropriate, or a 9 | comparable notice. 10 20. Violations of Protective Order: In the event that any person or party 11 | should violate the terms of this Protective Order, the aggrieved party should apply 12 |] to the Court obtain relief against any such person or party violating or threatening 13 |] to violate any of the terms of this Protective Order. 14 In the event that the aggrieved party seeks injunctive relief, 1t must petition 15 |] the District Judge for such relief, which may be granted at the sole discretion of the 16 |] District Judge. Ly 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 20 || Dated: January 14, 2021 wi . 23 UNITED'S TATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT "A"TO STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA KEVIN LEE HOWARD, Case No: CV19-08281 CBM (MRW) Plaintiff, AGREEMENT CONCERNING 6 VS. INFORMATION COVERED BY STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 7 | CITY OF WEST COVINA; ORDER OFFICER MATTHEW MUNOZ: 8 | OFFICER JOSHUA BRENES: OFFICER DOUG WEISCHEDEL:;: 9 | OFFICER C. GONZALEZ; and DOES 1 through 10 Inclusive, 10 Defendants. i 12 13 1. L, , hereby acknowledge 14 that I have received a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order entered in this is Litigation [Case No: CV19-08281 CBM (MRW)] by the United States District 16 Court for the Central District of California (hereinafter, “the Protective Order’).

Be I have either read the Protective Order or have had the terms of the 18 Protective Order explained to me by my attorney. i 3: I understand the terms of the Protective Order and agree to comply 20 with and to be bound by such terms. 21 4. —_ If Irecetve documents or information designated as Confidential 22 Information (as that term is defined in the Protective Order), I understand that such 23 Information is provided to me pursuant to the terms and restrictions of the 24 Protective Order. 25 5. [agree to hold in confidence and not further disclose or use for any 26 purpose (other than is permitted by the Protective Order) any Confidential 27 Information disclosed to me pursuant to the terms of the Protective Order. 28

1 6. I hereby submit myself to the jurisdiction of the United States District 2 | Court for the Central District of California for resolution of any matters pertaining 3 |] to the Protective Order. 5 || My address 1s: 7 || My present employer 1s: 9 || Dated: 10 11 12 Signed: 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28