Victor Diaz Sandoval v. County of Riverside

Opinion

7 10 VICTOR DIAZ SANDOVAL 11 Case No. 5:22-cv-01319-CV-GJS Plaintiff, 12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE 13 ORDER1 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, et al. 14 Defendant. Hon. Cynthia Valenzuela 15 United States District Judge 16

Hon. Gail J. Standish 17 United States Magistrate Judge 18

Trial Date: Not Yet Set 19 20 21 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 22 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 23 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public disclosure 24 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 25 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following 26 Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer 27 1 blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection 2 it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or 3 items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 5 This action involves jail records and peace officer and law enforcement records, 6 including, but not limited to, audio and video recordings. Such confidential and 7 proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, photographs, 8 audio and video recordings, reports, and other documents pertaining to open criminal 9 investigations and pending prosecutions, peace officer records of named Defendants, 10 sections of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Corrections Division Policy 11 Manual, jail records, including information and images implicating privacy rights of 12 third parties, and information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which 13 may be privileged or otherwise generally protected from disclosure under state or 14 federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite 15 the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 16 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are 17 entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 18 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address 19 their handling of at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective 20 order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that 21 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing 22 be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a 23 confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of 24 the public record in this case. 25 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 26 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this 27 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under 1 standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 2 material under seal. 3 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 4 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 5 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 6 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 7 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 8 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good 9 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with 10 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 11 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation 12 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the 13 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought 14 to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable— 15 constitute good cause. 16 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 17 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 18 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See 19 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item 20 or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal 21 in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must 22 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 23 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to 24 file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its 26 entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 27 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 1 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should 2 include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 3 2. DEFINITIONS 4 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit. 5 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 6 of information or items under this Order. 7 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 8 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 9 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause 10 Statement. 11 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 12 support staff). 13 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 14 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 15 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 17 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 18 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 19 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 20 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 21 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an 22 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 23 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 24 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 25 counsel. 26 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 27 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 2 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 3 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has 4 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 5 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 9 Discovery Material in this Action. 10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and 13 their employees and subcontractors. 14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 17 from a Producing Party. 3. SCOPE 18 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected 19 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 20 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 21 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 22 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 23 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial 24 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 25 4. DURATION 26 FINAL DISPOSITION of the action is defined as the conclusion of any appellate 27 1 Except as set forth below, the terms of this protective order apply through FINAL 2 DISPOSITION of the action. The parties may stipulate that the they will be 3 contractually bound by the terms of this agreement beyond FINAL DISPOSITION, 4 but will have to file a separate action for enforcement of the agreement once all 5 proceedings in this case are complete. 6 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 7 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 8 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members 9 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 10 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. 11 See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 12 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 13 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, for such materials, the terms 14 of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 15 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 16 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 17 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 18 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 19 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 20 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 21 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 22 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 23 within the ambit of this Order. 24 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 25 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose 26 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 27 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 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 this 5 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated 6 or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this 7 Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 8 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 9 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 10 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 11 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 12 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 13 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 14 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., 15 by making appropriate markings in the margins). 16 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 17 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 18 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before 19 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed 20 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 21 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine €h documents, or portions 22 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 23 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each 24 page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page 25 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 26 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 27 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies 1 all protected testimony 2 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 3 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 4 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 5 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 6 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected 7 portion(s). 8 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 9 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 10 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon 11 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts 12 to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 13 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 14 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 15 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling 16 Order. 17 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 18 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 19 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 20 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 21 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 22 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 23 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 24 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 25 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 26 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 1 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 2 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 3 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving 4 Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 5 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 6 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 7 authorized under this Order. 8 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 9 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 10 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” 11 only to: 12 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 13 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 14 disclose the information for this Action; 15 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 16 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 17 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 18 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 20 (d) the court and its personnel; 21 (e) court reporters and their staff; 22 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 23 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 24 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 25 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 26 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 27 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 1 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will 2 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 3 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed 4 by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition 5 testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately 6 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted 7 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 8 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 9 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 10 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 12 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that 13 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 15 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 16 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 17 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 18 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 19 order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this 20 Stipulated Protective Order; and 21 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 22 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 23 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 24 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action 25 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena 26 or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 27 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court 1 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 2 directive from another court. 3 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 5 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 6 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 7 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 8 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 9 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 11 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 12 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential 13 information, then the Party shall: 14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 15 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 16 with a Non-Party; 17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 19 specific description of the information requested; and 20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non- 21 Party,€ requested. 22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 23 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may 24 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. 25 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce 26 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 27 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court 1 protection in this court of its Protected Material. 2 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 4 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 5 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing 6 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve 7 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to 8 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) 9 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 10 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 11 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 13 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 14 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 15 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 16 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 17 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 18 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 19 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 20 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 21 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to 22 the court. 23 12. MISCELLANEOUS 24 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 25 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 26 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 27 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 1 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 2 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 3 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 4 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 5 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific 6 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is 7 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public 8 record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 9 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 10 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 11 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 12 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 13 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 14 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 15 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party 16 must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person 17 or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by 18 category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 19 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 20 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 21 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 22 archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, 23 legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, 24 attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials 25 contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute 26 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 27 (DURATION). 1 14. VIOLATION 2 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, 3 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 4 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.2 5 SKAPIK LAW GROUP 6 7 Dated: February 26, 2025 /s/ Matthew T. Falkenstein Matthew T. Falkenstein 8 Attorneys for Plaintiff Victor Diaz Sandoval 9 10 COLE HUBER LLP 11 Dated: February 26, 2025 /s/ Nicole R. Roggeveen 12 Nicole R. Roggeveen 13 Attorneys for Defendants County of Riverside and David Holm 14 15 17 18 19 DATED: ___M _a _r _c _h _ 3 _, _ 2 _0 _2 _5 ___________ 20 21 22 _____________________________________ United States Magistrate Judge 24 25 26 27 2 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i), the filer of this Stipulated Protective Order attests that all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, 3 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that 6 I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was 7 issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on 8 [date] in the case of Victor Diaz Sandoval v. County of Riverside, et al., United States 9 District Court, Central District of California, Case No. 5:22-cv-01319-CV-GJS . I 10 agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective 11 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me 12 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will 13 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 14 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 15 provisions of this Order. 16 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 17 for the Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 18 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 19 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 20 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 21 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 22 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 23 Order. 24 Date: ______________________________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27