Valentin v. Richardson

110 F.R.D. 622, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24014
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJune 18, 1986
DocketCiv. A. No. 83-2753-W
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 110 F.R.D. 622 (Valentin v. Richardson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Valentin v. Richardson, 110 F.R.D. 622, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24014 (D. Mass. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER WITH RESPECT TO THE DEPOSITION OF FRANK VALENTIN (# 92)

ROBERT B. COLLINGS, United States Magistrate.

Alexander Valentin has sued Boston Police Officer Thomas Richardson and the City of Boston pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that Officer Richardson violated the plaintiff’s constitutional rights when he unjustifiably shot the plaintiff with his service revolver on August 20, 1983. According to the Amended Complaint (# 11), on that date Officer Richardson arrived at the vicinity of 108 Williams Street in Jamaica Plain in order to investigate a complaint of excessive noise. One Robert Lombardi was arrested and taken from the premises at 108 Williams Street. The plaintiff, at the time Lombardi was being removed, was standing on the roof of a nearby stable observing the events taking place. It is alleged that the plaintiff did not engage in any unlawful activity or engage in any assaultive behavior toward Officer Richardson. Officer Richardson drew his service revolver and fired at the plaintiff, striking him in the head and causing permanent injury. It is further alleged that Officer Richardson then drew up Delinquent Child Complaints against the plaintiff, falsely accusing him of assault with a dangerous weapon and two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

At the time of the shooting, the plaintiff’s brother, Frank Valentin, was also on the roof of the stable. The defendant City of Boston has noticed Frank Valentin’s deposition, and the plaintiff has moved for a protective order, pursuant to Rule 26(c), F.R.Civ.P. The factual basis for the requested order, as stated in Plaintiff’s Memorandum, Etc. (# 97), is as follows:

Immediately before the shooting [on August 20, 1983] someone threw bricks in the direction of defendant Richardson from the roof of a stable, and there is evidence that the plaintiff’s brother, Frank Valentin, was the person throwing the bricks. The plaintiff was also on the roof at the time he was shot.
At the plaintiff’s trial on criminal charges arising from this incident, Frank Valentin was not called as a witness because his attorney indicated that he would refuse to testify based on a Fifth Amendment privilege.

Frank Valentin has not been prosecuted in connection with the brick-throwing incident, and discovery documents indicate that police officials made a conscious decision not to prosecute him despite having information that he was throwing bricks at defendant Richardson at the time in question. One apparent purpose behind the decision was to enhance the likelihood that his testimony would be unavailable to his brother, Alexander, at the anticipated criminal and civil proceedings in this matter.

Plaintiff’s counsel represents that unless the requested protective order is entered, Frank Valentin will most likely refuse to answer questions at his deposition on the basis of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, and, thus, “... the plaintiff will be denied access to deposition testimony from a critical witness to the events in question.” Plaintiff’s Motion, Etc. (# 92).

[624]*624The protective order which plaintiff seeks (1) would restrict attendance at the deposition to Frank Valentin, his attorney, the attorneys of record in the case, and the stenographer, (2) would provide for the sealing of the transcript of the deposition, (3) would provide that the transcript could not be unsealed except “for purposes of this litigation and only pursuant to a court order” (emphasis supplied), and (4) would provide that the contents of the deposition could be disclosed “to non-party witnesses only if counsel deems disclosure necessary for trial preparation purposes”. Lastly, the proposed protective order contains clauses which read:

It shall be a violation of this order for any person to whom disclosure is made or who otherwise learns of the content of Frank Valentin’s deposition to disclose to anyone else this information unless the disclosure is necessary for trial preparation and unless the disclosure is authorized by this order.
* * * * * *
The contents of the deposition and the transcript shall not be disclosed to any law enforcement officials, persons associated with any district attorney’s office, or officers, other than individual named defendants...
The parties shall have the right to seek relief from this order in the event that it restricts a party’s ability to prepare adequately for trial.

Plaintiff’s Motion, Etc. (#92) at p. 3-5. (Emphasis in original).

The defendant City of Boston does not object to the entry of the protective order but represents that “... counsel for the City in this civil action could in no way bind the District Attorney or any other prosecutorial authorities, including the police, in their capacity as law enforcement officers.” Memorandum of City of Boston, Etc. (# 96). The defendant Richardson opposes the entry of the protective order unless the terms of the order would bar use of the deposition at trial unless Frank Valentin appeared at the trial and gave live testimony. The defendant Richardson fears that under the shield of the protective order, “... there is a substantial risk that Frank [Valentin] will testify at his deposition in a fashion that may be less than candid.” Memorandum Of The Defendant Thomas Richardson, Etc. (# 95).

There is no question but that Rule 26(c), F.R.Civ.P., grants the Court the authority to issue the protective order which is sought and to enforce the order against attempts by law enforcement authorities to modify it at a later time in order to gain access to the testimony which was given pursuant to it. This is the plain holding of Martindell v. International Telephone and Telegraph Corp., 594 F.2d 291, 295-96 (2 Cir., 1979). In that case, the Government sought access to twelve pre-trial depositions which had been taken pursuant to a protective order which provided that the depositions would be kept confidential and “... were to be made available only to the parties and their counsel and not to be used for any purpose other than the preparation for and the conduct of the litigation.” Id. at 293. The District Judge denied the Government’s request, “... holding that the deposition testimony had been given in reliance upon the protective order, thus rendering unnecessary invocation by the witnesses of their Fifth Amendment rights, that the requested turnover would raise constitutional issues, and that principles of fairness mandated enforcement of the protective order.” Id.

The Court of Appeals affirmed, rejecting the Government’s argument that the witnesses had waived their Fifth Amendment rights by testifying and that, in any event, the Government was entitled to the transcripts to determine if the witnesses testified perjuriously. The Court wrote:

These arguments ignore a more significant counterbalancing factor — the vital function of a protective order issued under Rule 26(c), F.R.Civ.P., which is ,to “secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” of civil disputes, Rule 1, F.R.Civ.P., by encouraging full disclosure of all evidence that might conceivably be relevant.

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Bluebook (online)
110 F.R.D. 622, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valentin-v-richardson-mad-1986.