Courthouse News Service v. Michael Planet

Filing 25

Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction Opposition re: MOTION for Preliminary Injunction #3 filed by Defendant Michael Planet. (Attachments: #1 Declaration, #2 Declaration, #3 Declaration, #4 Declaration)(Reilley, Erica)

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Robert A. Naeve (State Bar No. 106095)
[e-mail]
Erica L. Reilley (State Bar No. 211615)
[e-mail]
JONES DAY
3161 Michelson Drive, Suite 800
Irvine, CA 92612
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendant
MICHAEL PLANET, IN HIS OFFICIAL
CAPACITY AS COURT EXECUTIVE
OFFICER/CLERK OF THE VENTURA
COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE,
Plaintiff,

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v.
MICHAEL PLANET, IN HIS
OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COURT
EXECUTIVE OFFICER/CLERK OF
THE VENTURA COUNTY
SUPERIOR COURT,
Defendant.

Case No. CV11-08083 R (MANx)
Assigned for all purposes to
Hon. Manuel L. Real
DECLARATION OF JULIE
CAMACHO IN SUPPORT OF
DEFENDANT’S OPPOSITION
TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR
PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
Date:
Time:
Courtroom:

November 21, 2011
10:00 a.m.
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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

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I, JULIE CAMACHO, hereby declare as follows:

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1.

I am a Court Program Manager for the Superior Court of the State of

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California, County of Ventura (the “Ventura Superior Court”). I am responsible for

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overseeing the operations of the civil, small claims and appeals units of the Ventura

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Superior Court and the Court Processing Assistants (“CPAs”) who work at the Hall

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of Justice, the primary courthouse location. I have personal knowledge of the facts

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stated in this Declaration, and I could and would competently and truthfully testify

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to these facts if called upon to do so.

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2.

It is my understanding that Plaintiff Courthouse News Service

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(“CNS”) claims in this action that it has a right to “same-day access” of all newly

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filed unlimited civil complaints, and that Ventura Superior Court’s processes have

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led to “significant” delays in CNS’s access to those court records.

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3.

Specifically, I understand that CNS claims that, during the period of

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August 8, 2011, through September 2, 2011, CNS’s reporter, Juliana Krolak,

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reviewed 152 newly filed unlimited civil complaints and that CNS received same-

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or next-day access in only a small fraction of those complaints.

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4.

I conducted my own independent analysis of the new unlimited

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general civil complaints that were filed by the Ventura Superior Court at the Hall of

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Justice courthouse between August 8, 2011, and September 2, 2011, and I report

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the results of that analysis here. In general, my analysis showed exactly the

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opposite of what CNS claims. The overwhelming bulk (more than 75%) of new

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complaints were received, processed and sent to the Media Bin on the same or next

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day.

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5.

I conducted my analysis by first performing searches within our Court

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Case Management System (“CCMS”) to locate all the unlimited general civil cases

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that were filed by the Ventura Superior Court at the Hall of Justice courthouse on

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each court day during the relevant period. That search generated the following type

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of exemplar screen shot:
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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

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A full-page copy of this exemplar screen shot is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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I then reviewed the list of cases filed on each court day to determine

which were new unlimited general civil complaints. I crossed through those
complaints that were not new unlimited general civil complaints as these types of
cases are filings that do not go to the Media Bin; I put a check mark next those that
were.
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For each new unlimited general civil complaint, I reviewed the CCMS

Records Management—Location History screen for the matter. That screen shows
the location of the case file at any particular point in time following its processing
date. For example, the attached screen shot shows the Location History page for
City National Bank v. Star Marketing & Media Inc., one of the unlimited general
civil complaints filed on August 8, 2011:
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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

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A full-page copy of this screen shot of the Location History page for City National

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Bank v. Star Marketing & Media Inc. is attached hereto as Exhibit B.

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8.

The type-written notes at the bottom of the screen shot are notes I

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inputted as I evaluated the date on which each case was received, processed, and

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sent to the Media Bin.

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9.

Every new complaint received by Ventura Superior Court that is

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dropped off or received by overnight delivery is deemed filed on the date it was

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received, and may be “backdated” accordingly. Thus, for all backdated filings, the

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“Filing Date” in the upper-right-hand corner of the Case Header box reflects not

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only the date on which the document was deemed filed, but also the date it was

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received.

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10.

The entries below the Case Header box reflect the Location History for

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that particular file on any given date after it has been processed and entered into

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CCMS.

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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

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11.

As the above screen shot shows, City National Bank v. Star Marketing

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& Media Inc. was received and filed on August 8, 2011. It was processed and sent

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to the Media Bin on August 8, 2011—the same day it was received. In accordance

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with our standard practice, the file remained in the Media Bin in the Records

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Department for ten days and was then removed from the Media Bin and shelved in

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Records.

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12.

For each case that was filed but not sent to the Media Bin on the same

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day, I reviewed the Case History screen in CCMS to determine when the file was

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processed. For example, the following screen shot shows the Location History

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page for Power Gomez v. LaCouture, a case that was received and deemed filed on

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August 8, 2011, but was not sent to the Media Bin until August 9, 2011:

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A full-page copy of this screen shot of the Location History page for Power Gomez

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v. LaCouture is attached hereto as Exhibit C.

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The Case History screen in the system shows even more detail,

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including each document that was processed along with the new complaint. Thus,

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for Power Gomez v. LaCouture, a complaint, declaration for court assignment, and

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civil case cover sheet were processed as part of the initial filing of the complaint.

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Because the complaint was received on August 8, all documents have a filed date of
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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

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August 8 as well. However, by placing my cursor over the person icon on the

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screen I am able to determine that the documents were backdated. A small box

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opens up to show the actual date and time the documents were processed, not just

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the date they were deemed filed:

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A full-page copy of this screen shot for Power Gomez v. LaCouture is attached
hereto as Exhibit D.
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All the documents for the Power Gomez v. LaCouture file were

processed on August 9, 2011, at 8:16 a.m.—essentially the first thing the next
morning after it was received. And as the prior screen shot shows, the file was sent
to the Media Bin that same day.
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I conducted an identical analysis for all new unlimited general civil

complaints filed on all court days between August 8, 2011, and September 2, 2011.
My analysis revealed that 147 new unlimited general civil complaints were filed by
Ventura Superior Court during that time.
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Of those 147 new unlimited general civil complaints, 47 of them were

received, processed and placed in the Media Bin all on the same day.
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Fifty-four (54) of them were received on one day and processed and

placed in the Media Bin on the next day.
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Another 18 of them were processed and placed in the Media Bin

within two days of receipt.

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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

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19.

Seventeen (17) of the 147 new unlimited general civil complaints

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needed to be directed to a judicial officer immediately, or were transferred in from a

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Superior Court in another county.

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Seven (7) of them did not get placed in the Media Bin due to an

inadvertent clerical error.
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Of the remaining four (4) files, three filings were backdated five (5)

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days and one filing was backdated 10 days. These files had delays that were due

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either to being received and couriered from the Simi Valley branch, or from an

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anomaly in processing that cannot be tracked through CCMS or independently

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recalled by the CPAs who processed the filings. Given the hundreds of documents

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our CPAs must process by hand each day, this is not surprising. Those remaining

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files, however, did eventually make it to the Media Bin.

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I further understand that CNS has complained in the past about four

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specific case files and alleged delays of access to each ranging from eight to 13

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days. I have researched those files through the information available in CCMS and

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have determined the following:

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(a)

Estrada v. Rubio’s Restaurant, Inc., Case No. 56-2010-

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00387332: This case was received, processed into CCMS, and deemed filed all on

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December 20, 2010, and then sent to the Media Bin that same day.

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(b)

Berber v. Holiday Retirement, Case No. 56-2010-00387945:

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This case was received and deemed filed on December 28, 2010, and was processed

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into CCMS on January 4, 2011. The file was sent to the Media Bin the same day it

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was processed. The delay in processing likely was due to the intervening New

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Year’s Holiday.

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(c)

Harrison v. Rite Aide Corp., Case No. 56-2010-00387942: This

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case was received and deemed filed on December 28, 2010, and was processed into

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CCMS on January 4, 2011. The file was sent to the Media Bin the same day it was

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Declaration of Julie Camacho ISO
Deft’s Opp. to Plf’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj.
Case No. CV 11-08083 R (MANx)

EXHIBIT A

EXHIBIT A8

EXHIBIT A9

EXHIBIT B

EXHIBIT B10

EXHIBIT B11

EXHIBIT C

EXHIBIT C12

EXHIBIT C13

EXHIBIT D

EXHIBIT D14

EXHIBIT D15