E.S., et al. v. County of Tulare, et al.

Filing 52

STIPULATION and ORDER re IN CAMERA REVIEW of Peace Officer's Personnel File, signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on 1/6/2015. (Herman, H)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 10 11 12 E.S., a minor, by and through her Guardian ad Litem, VALINE GONZALEZ, J.F., a minor, by and through his Guardian ad Litem, BRIDGET FLORES; in each case individually and as successor in interest to ARMANDO SANTIBANEZ, deceased; and MARIA MORENO, individually, 15 16 17 v. CITY OF VISALIA, TIM HAENER and DOES 2-10, inclusive. Defendants. 18 I. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 LAW OFFICES DOOLEY, HERR, PEDERSEN & BERGLUND BAILEY Attorneys at Law, LLP 100 Willow Plaza Suite 300 Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 636-0200 STIPULATION AND ORDER RE IN CAMERA REVIEW OF PEACE OFFICER’S PERSONNEL FILE Plaintiffs, 13 14 CASE NO.: 1:13-cv-01697-LJO-BAM RECITALS WHEREAS, on February 8, 2013, Plaintiffs’ decedent, ARMANDO SANTIBANEZ, was shot and killed during a traffic stop initiated by members of the Visalia Police Department. WHEREAS, on October 10, 2014, Plaintiffs filed a Third Amended Complaint against Defendants CITY OF VISALIA and Visalia Police Officer TIM HAENER seeking unconstitutional damages custom, under practice theories or policy, of municipal constitutional liability for violations of unreasonable search and seizure, detention and arrest, excessive force, denial of 1 medical care, substantive due process, false arrest/false imprisonment, battery, 2 and negligence. 3 WHEREAS, while engaged in discovery Plaintiffs have demanded, among 4 other documents, the production of Defendant TIM HAENER’s complete personnel 5 file. 6 WHEREAS, Defendant CITY OF VISALIA objected to this blanket request on 7 the grounds that it was overly broad, irrelevant and on the further ground that 8 disclosure would violate the privacy rights of Defendant TIM HAENER under the 9 official information privilege. 10 WHEREAS, in order to resolve this discovery dispute, Defendant CITY OF 11 VISALIA has offered to produce Defendant TIM HAENER’s personnel file to the 12 Court (Hon. Barbara A. McAuliffe) for an in camera inspection. 13 WHEREAS, the Court, after carefully weighing the rights of the respective 14 parties, should determine whether certain materials may have any relevancy to 15 Plaintiffs’ claims, and then weigh the potential benefits of disclosure of this 16 personnel information against the potential disadvantages that may flow as a 17 result of the disclosure. 18 II. 19 STIPULATION 20 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, BY AND BETWEEN THE PARTIES 21 HERETO, THROUGH THEIR RESPECTIVE ATTORNEYS OF RECORD, AS 22 FOLLOWS: 23 24 25 26 27 28 LAW OFFICES DOOLEY, HERR, PEDERSEN & BERGLUND BAILEY Attorneys at Law, LLP 100 Willow Plaza Suite 300 Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 636-0200 1. In response to Plaintiffs’ Request for Production of Documents, Defendant CITY OF VISALIA has: a. Previously produced all of Defendant TIM HAENER’s training records from his personnel files; b. Acknowledged there have been no prior instances of deadly force used by Defendant TIM HAENER; and 1 c. Acknowledged there have been no instances of disciplinary action 2 taken against Defendant TIM HAENER pertaining to his use of excessive force, 3 unreasonable force, or deadly force as a result of the February 8, 2013 incident or 4 at any time. 5 2. Defendant CITY OF VISALIA, at a mutually agreed upon date and time, 6 shall produce Defendant TIM HAENER’s complete personnel files to the Court for 7 an in camera inspection in chambers, outside the presence of Plaintiffs’ attorneys. 8 3. Leonard C. Herr, counsel for Defendant CITY OF VISALIA, shall be 9 authorized to deliver true and correct copies of all of Defendant TIM HAENER’s 10 personnel files to Court for purposes of the in camera inspection. 11 4. The record of the in camera review shall be sealed by the Court. 12 5. As part of the in camera inspection, the Court shall review the following 13 information: 14 15 a. Internal Affairs investigation conducted by the Visalia Police Department into the February 8, 2013 shooting incident. 16 17 b. Any documents memorializing the conclusion that Defendant TIM HAENER’s use of deadly force on February 8, 2013 was justified. 18 19 c. Any documents evidencing ratification of Defendant TIM HAENER’s use of deadly force on February 8, 2013. 20 21 d. Citizen’s complaints made against Defendant TIM HAENER pertaining to his use of excessive, unreasonable or deadly force; 22 6. In the event that after carefully weighing the respective rights of the 23 parties the Court orders disclosure of any documents from the personnel files of 24 Defendant TIM HAENER, said documents shall be released to the Plaintiffs subject 25 to a protective order. 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// LAW OFFICES DOOLEY, HERR, PEDERSEN & BERGLUND BAILEY Attorneys at Law, LLP 100 Willow Plaza Suite 300 Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 636-0200 1 DATED: December 29. 2014 2 3 LAW OFFICES OF DALE K. GALIPO LAW OFFICES OF NIKOLAUS W. REED QUIRK LAW GROUP By: 4 5 6 7 DATED: December 29, 2014 8 9 DOOLEY, HERR, PEDERSEN & BERGLUND BAILEY, LLP By: 10 /s/ Dale K. Galipo DALE K. GALIPO NIKOLAUS W. REED LOGAN QUIRK Attorneys for Plaintiffs /s/ Leonard C. Herr LEONARD C. HERR, Attorney for Defendants 11 12 III. 13 ORDER 14 15 UPON GOOD CAUSE BEING SHOWN as set forth in the stipulation of counsel, 16 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant CITY OF VISALIA at a mutually 17 convenient date and time, shall produce Defendant TIM HAENER’s complete 18 personnel files to the Court for an in camera inspection in chambers, outside the 19 presence of Plaintiffs’ attorneys. 20 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Leonard C. Herr, counsel for Defendant 21 CITY OF VISALIA, shall be authorized to deliver true and correct copies of all of 22 Defendant TIM HAENER’s personnel files to Court for purposes of the in camera 23 inspection. 24 25 26 27 28 LAW OFFICES DOOLEY, HERR, PEDERSEN & BERGLUND BAILEY Attorneys at Law, LLP 100 Willow Plaza Suite 300 Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 636-0200 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that as part of the in camera inspection, the Court shall review the following information: a. Internal Affairs investigation conducted by the Visalia Police Department into the February 8, 2013 shooting incident. b. Any documents memorializing the conclusion that Defendant TIM 1 HAENER’s use of deadly force on February 8, 2013 was justified. 2 3 c. Any documents evidencing ratification of Defendant TIM HAENER’s use of deadly force on February 8, 2013. 4 5 d. Citizen’s complaints made against Defendant TIM HAENER pertaining to his use of excessive, unreasonable or deadly force. 6 7 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED the record of the in camera review shall be sealed. 8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that any explanation or argument by defendants 9 that the documents listed above are protected from disclosure shall be presented 10 by way of declaration, filed under seal. 11 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that in the event this Court should order 12 disclosure of any documents from the personnel files of Defendant TIM HAENER, 13 said documents shall be released to the Plaintiffs subject to a protective order. 14 15 IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 LAW OFFICES DOOLEY, HERR, PEDERSEN & BERGLUND BAILEY Attorneys at Law, LLP 100 Willow Plaza Suite 300 Visalia, CA 93291 (559) 636-0200 Dated: January 6, 2015 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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