Meritzel Escamilla v. City of San Bernardino

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: July 17, 2025
• Docket: 5:25-cv-00669
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 MERITZEL ESCAMILLA, an Case No. 5:25-cv-00669-MWF (SPx) 12 individual, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 13 Plaintiff, ORDER

14 vs.

15 CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO, a public entity, OFFICER RICHARD 16 AUSTIN, an individual, SERGEANT IMRAN AHMED, an individual, 17 OFFICER RAYMOND LEDEZMA, an individual, and DOES 1-10 18 Defendants. 19

20 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 22 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 23 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 24 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 25 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does 26 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 27 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 28 1 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 2 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, 3 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 4 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be 5 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from 6 the court to file material under seal. 7 8 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 9 This action involves the City of San Bernardino (“City”) and individual sworn 10 police officers of the San Bernardino Police Department (“SBPD”) on one side; and 11 on the other, Plaintiff Meritzel Escamilla, who claims damages from the City and 12 SBPD officers. 13 As such, Plaintiff may seek materials and information that the City maintains 14 as confidential, such as personnel files of the police officers involved in the incident, 15 video recordings (including Body-Worn Video recordings and Digital In-Car Video 16 recordings), audio recordings, and other administrative materials and information 17 currently in the possession of the City and which the City believes needs special 18 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 19 this litigation. Plaintiff may also seek official information contained in the personnel 20 files of the Police Officers involved in the subject incident, which the City maintains 21 as strictly confidential and which the City believes needs special protection from 22 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation. 23 The City asserts that the confidentiality of materials and information sought by 24 Plaintiff is recognized by California and federal law as evidenced by, inter alia, 25 California Penal Code section 832.7, California Evidence Code section 1043 et. seq. 26 and Kerr v. United States District Ct. for N.D. Cal., 511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir. 1975), 27 aff’d, 426 U.S. 394 (1976); Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana, 936 F.2d 192, 198 (9th. Cir. 28 1990); Miller v. Pancucci, 141 F.R.D. 292 (C.D. Call 1992). The City does not 1 publicly release the materials and information referenced above except under 2 protective order or pursuant to a court order, if at all. These materials and information 3 are of the type that has been used to initiate disciplinary action against SBPD officers 4 and has been used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings, where officers’ conduct 5 was considered to be contrary to SBPD policy. 6 The City contends that absent a protective order delineating the responsibilities 7 of nondisclosure on the part of the parties hereto, there is a specific risk of unnecessary 8 and undue disclosure by one or more of the many attorneys, secretaries, law clerks, 9 paralegals, and expert witnesses involved in the case, as well as the corollary risk of 10 embarrassment, harassment and professional and legal harm on the part of the SBPD 11 officers referenced in the materials and information. 12 Defendants seek discovery of various information relating to Plaintiff’s 13 damages claims, including employment information, housing information, financial 14 information, and confidential medical records that may be personal, private, and 15 potentially embarrassing if unnecessarily disseminated; thus, Plaintiff contends such 16 information not be disseminated beyond this litigation. 17 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 18 resolution of disputes over the confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 19 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 20 parties are permitted reasonably necessary uses of such material in preparation for 21 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of litigation, and serve 22 the ends of justice, a protective order is necessary. Such information will not be 23 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and nothing will be designated without 24 a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, 25 and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record in this case. 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit, case no. 5:25-cv-00669-MWF 3 (SPx). 4 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 5 of information or items under this Order. 6 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 7 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 8 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 9 Cause Statement. 10 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 11 support staff). 12 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 13 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 15 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 16 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 17 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 18 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 19 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 21 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 22 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 23 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 24 counsel. 25 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 28 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 1 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 2 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 3 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 9 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 11 and their employees and subcontractors. 12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 15 from a Producing Party. 16 17 3. SCOPE 18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 19 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted 20 from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 21 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 22 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 23 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 24 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 4. DURATION 2 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced 3 that was previously designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this 4 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members 5 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 6 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the 7 trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th 8 Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in 9 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are 10 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend 11 beyond the commencement of the trial. 12 13 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 15 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 16 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 17 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 18 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that 19 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications 20 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 21 this Order. 22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 23 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 24 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 25 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 26 to sanctions. 27 28 1 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 3 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 4 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 5 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 6 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 7 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 8 produced. 9 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 10 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 11 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 12 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix, at a minimum, the legend 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 14 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 15 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 16 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 17 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 18 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 19 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 20 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 21 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents 22 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, 23 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 24 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 25 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions 26 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 27 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the 28 margins). 1 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 2 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition 3 all protected testimony. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and 5 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on 6 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 8 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 9 portion(s). 10 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 11 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 12 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 13 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 14 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 15 Order. 16 17 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 18 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 19 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 20 Scheduling Order. 21 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 22 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly 23 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3. 24 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding 25 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 26 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on 27 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 28 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 1 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled 2 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 3 4 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 7 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 8 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 9 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 10 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 11 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 12 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 13 authorized under this Order. 14 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 15 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 16 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 17 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 18 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 19 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 20 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 21 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 22 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 23 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 24 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 25 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 26 (d) the court and its personnel; 27 (e) court reporters and their staff; 28 1 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 2 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 3 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 4 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or 5 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 6 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in 7 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 8 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 9 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 11 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 12 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be 13 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as 14 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 15 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 16 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 17 18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 19 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 21 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 24 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 25 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 26 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 27 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 28 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 2 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 4 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 5 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 6 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 7 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 8 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 9 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 10 directive from another court. 11 12 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 13 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 14 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 15 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 16 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 17 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 18 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 19 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce 20 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an 21 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 22 information, then the Party shall: 23 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 24 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 25 with a Non-Party; 26 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 27 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 28 specific description of the information requested; and 1 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 2 Party, if requested. 3 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 4 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 5 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 6 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 7 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 8 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 9 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 10 protection in this court of its Protected Material. 11 12 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 14 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 15 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 16 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 17 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 18 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 19 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 20 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 21 22 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 23 PROTECTED MATERIAL 24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 25 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 26 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 27 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 28 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 1 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 2 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 3 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 4 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 5 to the court. 6 7 12. MISCELLANEOUS 8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 9 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 11 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 12 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 13 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 14 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 16 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 17 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 18 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under 19 seal. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, 20 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 21 otherwise instructed by the court. 22 23 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 24 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by 25 the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the 26 Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected 27 Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other 28 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected 1 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written 2 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 3 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 4 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms 5 that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, 6 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 7 Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all 8 pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, 9 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, 10 and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected 11 Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material 12 remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 13 14 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER 15 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 16 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 17 sanctions. 18 /// 19 /// 20 /// 21 /// 22 /// 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 1 I T IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2 3 CARTER LAW FIRM, APC 4 DATED: July 7, 2025 5 /s/ Corey Carter 6 Corey Carter 7 Attorney for Plaintiff

9 10 LAWRENCE BEACH ALLEN & CHOI, PC 11 DATED: July 7, 2025 12 /s/ Aamir Raza 13 Aamir Raza, Esq. 14 Attorneys for Defendants

16 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 17

18 DATED: July 17, 2025 __________________________________ 19 HON. SHERI PYM United States Magistrate Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on ____________ [date] in the 8 case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number and 9 initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all 10 the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that 11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 13 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person 14 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 28 Signature: __________________________________