D.C. G. et al v. City of Santa Ana et al

Filing 32

PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT by Magistrate Judge Jay C. Gandhi re Stipulation for Protective Order 30 . (kh)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 D.C.G., a Minor, by and through his Guardian Ad Litem, Petra Gaeta; A.G., a Minor, by and through his Guardian Ad Litem, Maria Rosas, individually and as successors in interest to DAVID GAETA, deceased; DAVID GAETA URZUA, and PETRA GAETA, individually, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) CITY OF SANTA ANA, an entity, ) SAUL ESQUIVEL, DORIN ) BUCHANAN; and DOES 1 through 10, ) Inclusive, ) ) Defendants. ) ) ) ) Case No.: SACV17-01206 JVS (JCGx) PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT 22 23 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, following stipulation of counsel, as follows: 24 1. This lawsuit arises out of the officer-involved shooting of Decedent 25 David Gaeta on November 6, 2016. Following the shooting, the Orange County 26 District Attorney’s (“OCDA”) office conducted an investigation into the shooting. 27 /// 28 2. In or about October 2017, the OCDA completed its investigation -1PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT 1 report concerning the investigation into the officer involved shooting that is at 2 issue in this lawsuit. This report contains numerous police reports, witness 3 statements, reports of evidence analysis prepared by the Orange County Crime 4 Lab, medical records of decedent David Gaeta, the criminal history index of the 5 decedent and an individual he was with at the time of the shooting, among other 6 items (collectively, “OCDA Report”). The defendants maintain that the OCDA 7 Report is protected by the official information privilege, law enforcement 8 privilege, and various other privileges. 9 3. The plaintiffs propounded a Request for Production of Documents on 10 the City of Santa Ana in this action seeking, among many other things, documents 11 contained within the investigative file of the Orange County District Attorney’s 12 office. 13 4. In light of the assertion of privilege and privacy by the defendants, the 14 following protective order shall govern production of documents collectively 15 defined in paragraph 1 as “Protected Documents”: 16 17 PROTECTIVE ORDER The Protected Documents shall be subject to this Protective Order as 18 follows. 19 1. All documents produced by the City of Santa Ana that compromise 20 the Protected Documents will be clearly designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” and be 21 placed in an envelope labeled as such prior to the disclosure. The 22 “CONFIDENTIAL” designation shall be placed on the printed pages of the 23 Protected Documents in a manner that does not overwrite or make illegible the text 24 of the document. 25 2. Each person receiving any of the Protected Documents shall not 26 disclose to any person or entity, in any manner, including orally, any of the 27 Protected Documents or any of the information contained therein, except when 28 used for purposes of this litigation pursuant to this protective order. -2PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT 1 2 3. The Protected Documents and all information contained therein, may only be disclosed to the following “qualified” persons: 3 (a) Counsel of record for the parties to this civil litigation; 4 (b) Defendant City of Santa Ana and its employees, including, but not 5 6 limited to Officers Saul Esquivel and Dorin Buchanan; (c) Paralegal, stenographic, clerical and secretarial personnel regularly 7 employed by counsel referred to in subparagraph (a); and, investigators, expert 8 witnesses and other persons legitimately involved in litigation-related activities for 9 the counsel of record; and 10 11 12 (d) Court personnel, including stenographic reporters engaged in such proceedings as are necessarily incidental to preparation for the trial of this action. (e) With the exception of the Court and court personnel (who are subject 13 only to the Court’s internal procedures regarding the handling of material filed or 14 lodged, including material filed or lodged under seal), all persons receiving a copy 15 of the Protected Documents shall, before receiving such protected information, be 16 given a copy of this Protective Order and a compliance agreement (in the form 17 attached hereto as Exhibit “A”) and shall execute the compliance agreement, and 18 return the original of the compliance agreement to the attorney who gives him/her 19 the protected information. It shall be the responsibility of the respective attorneys 20 to distribute compliance agreements, and then collect and maintain custody of the 21 executed originals of the compliance agreements. 22 4. To the extent any portion of the Protected Documents contains an 23 audio recording, transcript and/or summary of a statement and/or report given to 24 the OCDA by an independent witness who does not fall within one of the 25 categories described in Paragraph 3 above, that selected portion of the Protected 26 Documents may be provided to the particular witness to which it pertains. 27 28 5. The Protected Documents may be disclosed to the Court and court personnel, in connection with this litigation. Portions of the Protected Documents -3PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT 1 that a party intends to use in support of or in opposition to a pre-trial filing with the 2 Court must be filed in accordance with the Central District of California Local 3 Rules relating to under seal filings, including Local Rule 79-5. Counsel intending 4 to use documents from Protected Documents must both (a) apply to submit 5 unredacted documents containing any portion of the Protected Documents under 6 seal and (b) file public versions of the same documents with the information from 7 the Protected Documents redacted. 8 9 10 11 6. In the event this matter proceeds to trial, to the extent that any of the Protected Documents are offered into evidence, those documents will become public, unless sufficient cause is shown in advance of trial to proceed otherwise. 7. The court reporter, videographer, and audiographer, if any, who 12 record all or part of any future deposition(s) in this matter, which include the 13 Protected Documents or descriptions thereof, shall be subject to this Order and 14 precluded from providing any portions of the original deposition videotape, 15 audiotape, or exhibits which relate to the Protected Documents or information to 16 any persons other than counsel of record, absent order of the court. 17 8. Those attending any future deposition(s) shall be bound by this Order 18 and, therefore, shall not disclose to any person or entity, in any manner, including 19 orally, any documents from the Protected Documents made by such person during 20 the course of said depositions. 21 9. At any future deposition(s), should there be persons in attendance 22 who are not authorized to access to the Protected Documents or information, such 23 persons shall be removed from the deposition room at any time information 24 relating to the Protected Documents or protected information is disclosed or 25 discussed. 26 10. The Protected Documents shall be used solely in connection with the 27 preparation and trial of is action, entitled D.C.G., et al. v. City of Santa Ana, et al., 28 bearing case number SACV17-1206 JVS (JCGx), or any related appellate -4PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT 1 proceeding, and not for any other purpose, including, without limitation, any other 2 litigation or administrative proceedings or any investigation related thereto. 3 11. This Order may not be modified unless by written consent of the 4 parties and approval of the Court. Any party may move for a modification of this 5 Order at any time. Upon receipt and review of the documents produced pursuant 6 to this protective order, any party may move to remove the confidential 7 designation of any document after meeting and conferring with opposing counsel 8 and pursuant to the procedures governing discovery motions set forth in Local 9 Rule 37. 10 12. This Order is made for the purpose of ensuring that the Protected 11 Documents will remain confidential, unless otherwise ordered by the Court or in 12 response to a successful motion by a party made pursuant to Paragraph 11. 13 13. At the conclusion of this litigation, upon request of defense counsel, 14 plaintiff’s counsel shall return the Protected Documents to Jill Williams, Esq., 15 Carpenter, Rothans & Dumont, 500 S. Grand Avenue, 19th Floor, Los Angeles, 16 California 90071. Alternatively, the receiving parties and every other person 17 and/or entity who received originals or copies of the protected information may 18 destroy all such material and material derived therefrom within 30 calendar days 19 after the conclusion of this case. Additionally, within thirty 30 calendar days after 20 the conclusion of this case, counsel for the receiving parties shall send a signed 21 declaration stating that such material has been destroyed pursuant to this Protective 22 Order. 23 24 25 26 14. Nothing in this Order shall be construed as authorizing a party to disobey a lawful subpoena issued in another action. GOOD CAUSE The parties submit that GOOD CAUSE exists to enter the proposed 27 protective order to balance the defendants’ and the OCDA’s concerns that the 28 documents consist of police reports and private information concerning the parties -5PROTECTIVE ORDER COVERING ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

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