L.R. et al v. County of Riverside et al

Filing 21

ORDER APPROVING PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Kenly Kiya Kato re Stipulation for Protective Order 20 (dts)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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L.R., by and through her guardian ad
12 litem Jeanette Clark, individually and as
13 a successor in interest to Omar
Rodriguez, deceased; ELSA
14 RODRIGUEZ, individually, and
RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ, individually
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Plaintiffs,
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CASE NO:
15-cv-1767 JGB(KKx)
Magistrate Kenly K. Kato
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER

vs.

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COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE and DOES
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Defendants.

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

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1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

3 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
10 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in
11 Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
12 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
13 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
14 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
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B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

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Plaintiffs have requested, by way of written discovery, materials pertaining to

17 the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s and/or District Attorney’s investigation
18 into the shooting death of Omar Rodriguez. Defendants have also identified
19 materials pertaining to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s and/or District
20 Attorney’s investigation into the shooting death of Omar Rodriguez in their initial
21 disclosures. These documents contain information of a privileged, confidential,
22 private, or sensitive nature, and the parties believe that public dissemination of this
23 information would jeopardize compelling interests in preserving the integrity of the
24 Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s investigation. This confidential
25 information is in the possession of the Defendants. Defendants have agreed to
26 produce this information pursuant to the terms and conditions found in the instant
27 protective order.
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt

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2 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
3 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
4 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for
5 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
6 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
7 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
8 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
9 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and
10 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
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DEFINITIONS
2.1

Action: this pending federal law suit, L.R., et al. v. County of Riverside,

case number 15-cv-1767 JGB(KKx).
2.2

Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the

designation of information or items under this Order.
2.3

“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
the Good Cause Statement.
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Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

their support staff).
2.5

Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

items that it produces in disclosures or responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2.6

Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

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2.7

Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
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2.8

House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

5 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
6 counsel.
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2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

8 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
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2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party

10 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
11 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
12 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
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2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

14 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
15 support staffs).
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2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

17 Discovery Material in this Action.
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2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation

19 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
20 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or
21 medium)and their employees and subcontractors.
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2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
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2.15 Receiving Party:

a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

25 Material from a Producing Party.
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SCOPE
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The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
2 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
3 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
4 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. Any
5 use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge.
6 This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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4. DURATION

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Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations

9 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
10 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall
11 be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this
12 Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the
13 completion and exhaustion of all appeals, re-hearings, remands, trials, or reviews
14 of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for
15 extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
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5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

18 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
19 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
20 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
21 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
22 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
23 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
24 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized
25 designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified
26 or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber
27 the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. If it comes to a
2 Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for
3 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly
4 notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
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5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

6 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
7 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
8 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
9 produced.
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Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic

12 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
13 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
14 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
15 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
16 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
17 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
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A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for

19 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party
20 has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the
21 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for
22 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has
23 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
24 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this
25 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must
26 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.
27 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

1 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
2 appropriate markings in the margins).
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify

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4 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
5 deposition all protected testimony.
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(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for

7 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
8 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
9 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
10 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
11 protected portion(s).
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5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

13 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
14 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
15 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
16 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
17 Order.
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6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

20 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
21 Scheduling Order.
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6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

23 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
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6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

25 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
26 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
27 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
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1 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
2 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
3 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
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7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
7 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
8 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
9 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
11 DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving
12 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the
13 persons authorized under this Order.
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7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

15 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving
16 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
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(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as

18 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to
19 disclose the information for this Action;
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(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

21 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
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(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

23 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
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(d) the court and its personnel;
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(e) court reporters and their staff;

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(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

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2 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
3 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
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(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

5 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
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(h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses, in the

7 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
8 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will
9 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
10 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
11 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
12 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
13 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
14 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
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(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

16 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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8.

PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

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If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

20 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
21 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
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(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

23 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
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(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to
25 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
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or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
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this Stipulated Protective Order; and
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(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued

2 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
3 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
4 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action
5 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
6 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
7 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
8 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
9 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
10 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED

12 IN THIS LITIGATION
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(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

14 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
15 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
16 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
17 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
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(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to

19 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
20 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
21 confidential information, then the Party shall:
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(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

23 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
24 agreement with a Non-Party;
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(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
26 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
27 specific description of the information requested; and
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(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-

2 Party, if requested.
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(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

4 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
5 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
6 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
7 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
8 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
9 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
10 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
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10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

13 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
14 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
15 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
16 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
17 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
18 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
19 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

21 PROTECTED MATERIAL
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When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

23 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
24 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
25 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
26 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without
27 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
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1 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
2 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
3 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
4 to the court.
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12. MISCELLANEOUS
12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

7 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
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12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

9 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
10 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
11 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
12 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
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12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

14 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
15 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
16 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
17 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
18 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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13. FINAL DISPOSITION
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60

21 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
22 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
23 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
24 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
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Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies

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1 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
2 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
3 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
4 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
5 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
6 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
7 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
8 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
9 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
10 Section 4 (DURATION).
11 //
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14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

2 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
3 sanctions.
4 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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March 4, 2016
6 DATED ___________________

s/. Dale K. Galipo
_______________________________

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Dale K. Galipo
Renee S. Valentine
Attorneys for Plaintiff

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10 DATED:___________________
March 4, 2016

________________________________
s/. Angela M. Powell

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Eugene P. Ramirez
Angela M. Powell
Attorneys for Defendants

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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED:___________________
March 8, 2016

________________________________
Kenly K. Kato
United States Magistrate Judge

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1 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
_____________________________________________ [print or type full address],
declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the
Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for
the Central District of California on [date] in the case of L.R., et al. v. County of
Riverside, case number 15-cv-1767 JGB(KKx). I agree to comply with and to be
bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment
in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I
further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or
type full name] of ____________________________________________________
[print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service
of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement
of this Stipulated Protective Order.
Date: ______________________________________
City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
Printed name: _______________________________
Signature: __________________________________

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