Putney v. The People of the State of California

Filing 15

ORDER GRANTING IN PART 14 Petitioner's Motion to File Documents Under Seal signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 11/15/2013. (Jessen, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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THOMAS EARL PUTNEY,

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Petitioner,

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v.

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BRIAN DUFFY,

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Respondent.

Case No.: 1:13-cv-00771-JLT
ORDER GRANTING IN PART PETITIONER’S
MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL
(Doc. 14)

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Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding through appointed counsel with a petition for writ of
habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The instant petition was filed on May 23, 2013. (Doc. 1). On May 28, 2013, the Court ordered

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Petitioner to file a first amended petition. (Doc. 4). On June 20, 2013, before filing a first amended

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petition, Petitioner requested the appointment of counsel. (Doc. 5). On July 5, 2013, the Court

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appointed counsel for Petitioner. (Doc. 7). On October 28, 2013, Petitioner’s counsel filed a first

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amended petition for writ of habeas corpus that included voluminous exhibits. (Doc. 13).

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Contemporaneous with the filing of the first amended petition, Petitioner’s counsel also filed a notice

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to seal documents, in which counsel indicated that Petitioner’s mental state was an issue in this case,

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that the approximately 400 pages of materials submitted with the first amended petition contained

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various medical and psychiatric reports concerning Petitioner’s mental condition and treatment, but
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that “because it is very difficult to disentangle those pages that do not contain confidential material

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from those pages and excerpts that contain confidential material,” counsel requested that all of the

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documents be filed under seal.

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(Doc. 14).

The Court has reviewed the documents and is of the opinion that it is not as difficult as

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Petitioner has suggested to separate the confidential materials relating to Petitioner’s medical

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condition and treatment from those documents that do not contain confidential materials. For

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example, most of Volume I contains court documents related to Petitioner’s conviction, e.g., court

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transcripts, briefs, etc. The only documents in Volume I that appear to contain any confidential

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information are those at Tabs 12, 13, and 14, respectively the DMH Wellness and Recovery Plan

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March 24, 2010; the January 30, 2009 report by Jay Adams, Ph.D.; and the May 21, 2007 report by L.

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C. Miccio-Fonseca, Ph.D.

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By contrast, Volume II appears to be comprised mostly of documents containing confidential

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information, with the exception of Tab 22, which is the January 21, 2011 sentencing hearing

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transcript. Accordingly, the Court will partially grant the motion to seal based on the discussion above.
ORDER

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In light of the confidential nature of the documents discussed above, the Court ORDERS:

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1.

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DENIED in part;

Petitioner’s motion to file documents under seal (Doc. 14), is GRANTED in part and

a.

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As to those documents found at Tabs 12-14 in Volume I and all documents in

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Volume II, except for the document at Tab 22, the motion is GRANTED, and the Clerk of the

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Court is DIRECTED to file these documents under seal;

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b.

The motion is DENIED as to all other documents submitted with the first

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amended petition.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

November 15, 2013

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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