Welch v. City of Albuquerque et al

Filing 294

STIPULATED CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER by District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales. (tah)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
TERYSA M. WELCH,
Plaintiff,
vs.

No. 1:11-cv-00700-KG/SCY

CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, a New Mexico
Municipality; RAYMOND SCHULTZ,
ELIZABETH PAIZ, WILLIAM ROSEMAN,
JOSEPH HUDSON, DAVID HUBBARD,
ROBERT SMITH, CECIL KNOX,
J.R. POTTER, KEVIN GAGNE, SUE NEAL, and
JOHN DOES I-V, Individually and as agents and
employees of the City of Albuquerque,
Defendants.

STIPULATED CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER
THIS MATTER having come before the Court upon the agreement and stipulation of the
parties as set forth herein, and the Court finding good cause,
IT HEREBY IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED as follows:
It is the agreement of the undersigned parties that certain documents and information
should be exchanged that might otherwise be considered confidential. Though the parties may
dispute the confidential status of certain documents, the parties agree to keep the following
documents and information confidential for the purposes of this litigation, unless and until either
party challenges whether the document or information should not be subject to this Order and the
Court makes a ruling regarding said challenge pursuant to an in camera review:
1.

Plaintiff’s and the individual Defendants’ medical and psychological information

which are otherwise protected from discovery by patient-medical care provider privilege, and/or
the patient-counselor or patient/psychotherapist privilege, or by N.M. Stat. Ann. §30-9-16
through 30-9-15 NMSA, FERPA, and N.M.R. 11-413;
2.

The personnel and IA files of the Plaintiff and individual Defendants;

3.

All IA investigation documents, including but not limited to Albuquerque Police

Department Internal Affairs investigation #I-214-09, and specifically all target letters, any
recorded target and witness interviews and statements, transcripts of said target and witness
interviews and statements, investigator notes and recommendations, supervisor notes and
recommendations, proposed disciplinary actions, and final disciplinary actions associated with
this internal affairs investigation; and
4.

Plaintiff’s recorded statements during their Office of Professional Standards

interviews.
The Parties recognize that documents as described in paragraphs 2 and 3 above may be subject to
release pursuant to the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (“IPRA”), NMSA § 14-21 et. al., by Defendant City of Albuquerque, unless legally exempt from release.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED:
1.

This Order governs the use and/or production of the following documents for the
sole purposes of this litigation, including:
a. The use and/or production and disclosure of any evidence of Plaintiff’s
psychological medical history, emotional condition or diagnosis obtained by a
psychiatrist, psychologist, a psychotherapist or doctor or counselor during the
course of medical care, psychological care, psychotherapy, therapy or
counseling.

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b. The use and/or production of Plaintiff’s and Defendants’ personnel files, IA
files and statements, and e-mail files as well as Albuquerque Police
Department Internal Affairs investigation #I-214-09. Said personnel files, IA
files and emails may be redacted to obscure Social Security numbers, home
addresses, home telephone numbers, day and month of birthdate and any other
personal identifying information as defined by IPRA.
2.

All “Confidential Material,” may be marked as such by the producing party, or
alternatively, marked by placing a cover sheet on the front of the produced
material with the “CONFIDENTIAL,” typed, written, or printed on such cover
sheet or the designation of “confidential” in an e-mail attachment.

The

identification of “Confidential Material” in either of these fashions shall mean
that all materials or information or testimony produced with such mark, cover
letter or cover sheet shall be “Confidential Material” as defined by this Order.
3.

Any materials or testimony designated “Confidential Material” shall be disclosed
only to the party’s attorney (including staff, employees or independent
contractors), parties and outside experts and consultants employed by the
Plaintiffs’ and the Defendants’ undersigned civil attorneys as needed to prosecute
or defend this action. All such persons shall use such “Confidential Material”
only for the prosecution and defense of this action and for no other purposes.

4.

Upon request of any party at a deposition of any witness, a copy of this order can
be shown to witnesses, who may be asked to sign this order (but who are not
compelled to do so). Upon request of any party, certain pages of deposition
transcripts that contain testimony pertaining to “Confidential Materials” can be

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deemed “confidential,” if requested to be placed under seal by the Court.
5.

In the event deposition testimony or any exhibits or documents will be used in
summary judgment motions, or as exhibits in any motions, “Confidential
Material” may be sealed if the Court so orders, or provided to Chambers
separately identified by stipulation of the parties, or the parties may obtain a
procedure in advance of filing such motions that keeps “Confidential Material”
from being filed with the Clerk of this Court in the public record.

6.

Nothing in this Order, and no actions taken pursuant to this Order, shall prejudice
the right of any party to contest the alleged relevance, admissibility, or
discoverability of documents sought or subject to this Order.

7.

Nothing in this Order prohibits any party from seeking and obtaining, upon
appropriate showing, relief from this Order for specific types of documents, or
additional protection with respect to the confidentiality of specific discovery
material, or from providing stipulated exceptions to this Order.

8.

At the conclusion of the instant litigation, any materials which have been
designated as “Confidential Materials” are to be either shredded or returned to the
producing parties.

The Parties understand that this Order does not prohibit the release of documents by Defendant
City of Albuquerque as mandated by law under the New Mexico Public Information Act
(“IPRA”), NMSA 14-2-1, et. al.
___________________________________
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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SUBMITTED BY:
WIGGINS, WILLIAMS & WIGGINS, P.C.

By: /s/ Approved 7-25-2017
Patricia G. Williams
1803 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
Phone: [phone]
Attorneys for Defendants

APPROVED BY:
AGUILAR & AGUILAR, P.C.
Esteban A. Aguilar, Sr.
Esteban A. Aguilar, Jr.
2501 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Ste. A
Albuquerque, NM 87104
Phone: [phone]
and
THE LAW OFFICE OF RYAN J. VILLA

By: /s/ Approved via email 7-18-2017
Ryan J. Villa
2501 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Ste. A
Albuquerque, NM 87104
Phone: [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiff

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