Sandoval Delgado v. Diaz Marquez

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SAN JOSE DIVISION 7 8 WILFRIDO SANDOVAL DELGADO, Case No. 23-cv-05141-VKD

9 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 10 v. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO SEAL 11 VERANIA DIAZ MARQUEZ, Re: Dkt. No. 47 Respondent. 12

13 14 Petitioner Wilfrido Sandoval Delgado and respondent Verania Diaz Marquez jointly move 15 to seal certain exhibits admitted during the bench trial in this case. Dkt. No. 47. For the reasons 16 described below, the Court grants the parties’ motion. 17 I. LEGAL STANDARD 18 “Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records 19 and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of 20 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 21 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7 (1978)). [B]ecause the resolution of a dispute on the merits, whether by trial 22 or summary judgment, is at the heart of the interest in ensuring the ‘public’s understanding of the 23 judicial process and of significant public events,’” the Ninth Circuit has stated that there is a 24 “strong presumption of access” to these records which can only be overcome by a showing of 25 “compelling reasons.” Id. at 1179 (quoting Valley Broadcasting Co. v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 798 F.2d 26 1289, 1295 (9th Cir. 1986)). The party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of 27 showing compelling reasons to overcome this presumption. Id. at 1178. 1 material.” Civil L.R. 79-5(c)(3). A party moving to seal a document in whole or in part must 2 explain “why a less restrictive alternative to sealing is not sufficient.” Civil L.R. 79-5(c)(1)(iii). 3 II. DISCUSSION 4 The parties ask to seal photos and videos of their minor child, JASD. Dkt. No. 47 at 3. 5 The Court agrees that the protection of JASD’s identity is a compelling reason to seal these 6 exhibits. See Harvey v. Means, No. 2:23-CV-1712, 2023 WL 8188681, at *1-2 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 7 27, 2023) (finding compelling reasons to seal photos and other materials admitted at trial in Hague 8 Convention case); see also Dudgeon v. Cnty. of Sonoma, No. 19-CV-05615-JCS, 2021 WL 9 5935618, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 18, 2021) (finding compelling reasons to seal videos of plaintiff’s 10 minor children). For most of the exhibits in question, there is no less restrictive alternative to 11 complete sealing. See Civil L.R. 79-5(c)(1)(iii). The sole exception is Exhibit 38, which consists 12 of Whatsapp chats between the parties and includes some photos of JASD. See Dkt. No. 47-15. 13 The parties propose sealing in their entirety the pages of this exhibit containing photos of JASD, 14 but the Court concludes that it is necessary to redact only the photos themselves, and not the text 15 messages, from the public version of this exhibit. Dkt. No. 47 at 2. 16 The parties also ask to seal Exhibit 49, a forensic medical evaluation of Ms. Diaz. See Dkt. 17 No. 47 at 2. The Court agrees that protection of Ms. Diaz’s private health information is a 18 compelling reason to seal this exhibit. See Tooker v. Mak, No. 20-CV-07373-HSG, 2022 WL 19 1131633, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 7, 2022); Pratt v. Gamboa, No. 17-CV-04375-LHK, 2020 WL 20 8992141, at *2 (N.D. Cal. May 22, 2020) (both finding compelling reasons to seal medical 21 records). However, the Court notes that an unredacted version of Exhibit 49 has already been filed 22 on the public docket. See Dkt. No. 48-8. The Court construes the parties’ motion to seal as a 23 request to seal this previously-filed document and to file Exhibit 49 under seal in its entirety. 24 Accordingly, the Court grants the motion to seal and orders as follows: 25 The following exhibits shall be sealed: 4, 6-10, 13-24 (Dkt. Nos. 47-2 through 47-14), 49 26 (Dkt. No. 48-8), and 50A, 93, 322, 325 (Dkt. Nos. 47-16 through 47-19). The parties shall prepare 27 a redacted version of Exhibit 38 (Dkt. No. 47-15) that complies with this order to be posted on the 1 IT IS SO ORDERED. 2 || Dated: February 16, 2024 3 . 28 Vuraguia®, ReMarice VIRGINIA K. DEMARCHI 5 United States Magistrate Judge 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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