Sylvana McGraw v. City of Los Angeles

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: September 19, 2023
• Docket: 2:23-cv-04727
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Russell J. Cole, Esq. (SBN 136981) | || DePasquale & Cole 115 Pine Avenue, Suite 560 2 Beach, California 90802 (213) 629-3550 © 3 || prdriclaw@gmail.com 4 || Attorney for Plaintiff, SYLVANA McGRAW 5 HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney (SBN 106866) 6 || DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney (SBN 19 983 SCOTT MARCUS, Chief Assistant City Attorney (SBN 184980) 7 \|CORY M. BRENTE, Senior Assistant City Attorney (SBN 115453) IRVING R. ESTRADA, Deputy City Attorney (SBN 314785) 8 ||200 N. Main Street, 6th floor Los Angeles, California 90012 9 ||Tel: (213) 978-2247 Fax: (213) 978-8785 10 Email: Irving.Estrada@lacity.org 11 || Attorneys for Defendants, CITY OF LOS ANGELES and ANDREW TAYLOR 12 13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 14 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 15 16 || SYLVANA I. MCGRAW, CASE NO. 2:23-cv-04727-MRW Hon. Michael R. Wilner; Roybal - Ctm 550 17 Plaintiff, 18 Vs. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 19 CITY OF LOS ANGELES, ANDREW 20 || TAYLOR, et al., Check if submitted without material modifications to MRW form 21 Defendants. 22 23 24 || 1. INTRODUCTION 25 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 26 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, 27 |\or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 28 any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the

1 parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 2 Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 3 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords 4 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are 5 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties 6 further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective 7 Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 8 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied 9 when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 10 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 11 WHEREAS Plaintiff SYLVANA I. MCGRAW (“Plaintiff”) is seeking materials 12 and information that Defendant CITY OF LOS ANGELES (“City”) maintains as 13 confidential, including but limited to, video recordings, audio recordings, other 14 confidential information and documents regarding this incident, and other administrative 15 materials and information currently in the possession of the City and which the City 16 believes need special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose 17 other than prosecuting this litigation. 18 The City asserts that the confidentiality of the materials and information sought by 19 Plaintiff is recognized by California and federal law, as evidenced inter alia by California 20 Penal Code section 832.7 and Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal., 511 F.2d 192, 21 198 (9th Cir. 1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394 (1976). The City has not publicly released the 22 materials and information referenced above except under protective order or pursuant to a 23 court order, if at all. These materials and information are of the type that has been used 24 to initiate disciplinary action against Los Angeles Police Department (“LAPD”) officers, 25 and has been used as evidence in disciplinary proceedings, where the officers’ conduct 26 was considered to be contrary to LAPD policy. 27 The City contends that absent a protective order delineating the responsibilities of 1 undue disclosure by one or more of the many attorneys, secretaries, law clerks, paralegals 2 and expert witnesses involved in this case, as well as the corollary risk of embarrassment, 3 harassment and professional and legal harm on the part of the LAPD officers referenced 4 in the materials and information. The unfettered disclosure of the materials and 5 information, absent a protective order, would allow the media to share this information 6 with potential jurors in the area, impacting the rights of Defendant herein to receive a fair 7 trial. 8 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution 9 of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information 10 the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted 11 reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, 12 to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a 13 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 14 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that 15 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a 16 confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the 17 public record of this case. 18 The parties therefore stipulate that there is Good Cause for, and hereby jointly 19 request that the honorable Court issue a Protective Order regarding confidential 20 documents consistent with the terms and provisions of this Stipulation. However, the 21 entry of a Protective Order by the Court pursuant to this Stipulation shall not be 22 construed as any ruling by the Court on the aforementioned legal statements or privilege 23 claims in this section, no shall this section be construed as part of any such Court Order. 24 The City has not publicly released the documents, video or information referenced above 25 except under protective order or pursuant to court order, if at all. 26 27 2. DEFINITIONS 1 MRW 2 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of 3 information or items under this Order. 4 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it 5 is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under 6 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 7 Statement. 8 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 9 support staff). 10 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 11 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 12 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the 13 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among 14 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in 15 disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 16 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 17 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 18 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 19 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 20 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel. 21 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 22 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 23 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to 24 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 25 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has 26 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 27 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 1 support staffs). 2 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 3 Discovery Material in this Action. 4 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 5 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 6 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 7 their employees and subcontractors. 8 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated 9 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 10 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 11 from a Producing Party. 12 13 3. SCOPE 14 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; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 17 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 18 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 19 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 20 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 21 22 4. DURATION 23 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 24 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in 25 writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be the later 26 of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and 27 (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 1 or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. 2 3 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 5 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order 6 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 7 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 8 parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that 9 other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 10 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 11 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that 12 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 13 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 14 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 15 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 16 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 17 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 18 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 19 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or 20 ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order 21 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 22 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 23 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but 24 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the 25 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 26 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 27 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party 1 in the margins). 2 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need 3 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which 4 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the 5 designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be deemed 6 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 7 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions 8 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 9 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page 10 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 11 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 12 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 13 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 14 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 15 protected testimony. 16 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 17 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of 18 the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 19 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, 20 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected portion(s). 21 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 22 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 23 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 24 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to 25 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 26 27 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 1 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order. 2 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute resolution 3 process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 4 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on the 5 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., 6 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 7 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn 8 the confidentiality designation, all parties will continue to afford the material in question 9 the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until 10 the Court rules on the challenge. 11 12 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 14 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action 15 only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected 16 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions 17 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must 18 comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 20 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 21 authorized under this Order. 22 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise 23 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party 24 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 26 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 27 disclose the information for this Action; 1 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 2 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 3 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 4 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 5 (d) the Court and its personnel; 6 (e) court reporters and their staff; 7 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 8 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed 9 the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 10 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 11 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 12 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 13 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 14 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not 15 be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment 16 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 17 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to 18 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter 19 and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 20 Order; and 21 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 22 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 23 24 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 25 OTHER LITIGATION 26 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 27 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 1 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification will 2 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 3 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 4 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 5 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include a copy of this 6 Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 8 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 9 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 10 subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this action as 11 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or 12 order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 13 Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of 14 its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 15 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive 16 from another court. 17 18 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 19 IN THIS LITIGATION 20 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 21 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced 22 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 23 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a 24 Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 25 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 26 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 27 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 1 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that 2 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a 3 Non-Party; 4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 5 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific 6 description of the information requested; and 7 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 8 Party, if requested. 9 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 10 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 11 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If 12 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will not produce any 13 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement 14 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the 15 contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this 16 court of its Protected Material. 17 18 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 19 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 20 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 21 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 22 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 23 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 24 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request 25 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 26 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 27 1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 2 PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 4 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of 5 the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 6 This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e- 7 discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to 8 Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the 9 effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client 10 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the 11 stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 12 13 12. MISCELLANEOUS 14 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 15 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 16 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 17 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing 18 or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated 19 Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in 20 evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 21 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected 22 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed 23 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected 24 Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the 25 court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless 26 otherwise instructed by the court. 27 1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days 3 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all 4 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 5 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 6 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. 7 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit 8 a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 9 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where 10 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that 11 the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or 12 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding 13 this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion 14 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 15 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and 16 expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 17 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 18 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 19 / / / 20 / / / 21 / / / 22 / / / 23 / / / 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal contempt 2 || proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 3 ||other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 4 5 | IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 6 7 DATED: 9/19/2023 /s/ 8 Attorneys for Plaintiff 9 ° el DATED: 9/19/2023 11 □□□ sam — 12 13 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDER¥D 14 15 ||DATED:__ 9/19/23 “Ti / 16 United States Magisirate Judge 17 18 19 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 _________________ [full 5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand 6 the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the 7 Central District of California on [date] in the case of Sylvana I. McGraw v. 8 City of Los Angeles, et al.; 2:23-cv-04727-MRW. I agree to comply with and to be 9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in 11 the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 12 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or 13 entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 17 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [full address and telephone number] 19 as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 20 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 23 24 Printed name: _______________________________ 25 26 Signature: __________________________________ 27