Wynn et al v. Perry et al

Filing 62

PROTECTIVE ORDER. Signed by Chief Judge Frank D. Whitney on 11/30/2017. (eef)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHARLOTTE CITY DIVISION
3:14-cv-625-FDW
STACEY WYNN,

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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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LAWRENCE H. PARSONS, et al.,
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Defendants.
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___________________________________ )

PROTECTIVE ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Consent Motion for Entry of Protective
Order, (Doc. No. 61),1 seeking the release of North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations (“SBI”)
Reports. The motion is granted as follows.
The parties herein (specifically all Plaintiffs and all answering Defendants, collectively
referred to hereinafter as “parties”), and the SBI stipulate to the entry of this Protective Order
allowing release of SBI files regarding investigations into the Lanesboro Correctional Institution
from January 1, 2009, through the present as detailed in the Schedule of Documents To Be
Produced attached to the Subpoena served on the SBI pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 45 on October 1,
2017. (Doc. No. 61-1 at 10).
Counsel for the parties and the SBI stipulate and agree to the following statements of facts
which authorize the Court’s entry of the Protective Order:
1. The parties seek the release of the SBI investigation reports for the parties’ review and
possible use in this lawsuit.

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The consenting attorneys are C. Scott Holmes, Joseph Finarelli, Anita S. Earls, Tammera Sudderth Hill,
and Angel E. Gray.

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2. The SBI reports are material and relevant to the subject matter involved in this matter.
3. Definitions.
a. SBI Reports refers to any and all documents and materials contained in SBI files
included in the aforementioned subpoena, including the related laboratory reports and
findings, and any videos obtained or taken and any photographs obtained or taken in
conjunction with the investigation.
b. Document means all writings, drawings, graphs, charts, recordings, and any other
documents as defined in Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
c. Material means any document, any answer to any interrogatory or other
discovery request in this action, any portion of any deposition (including deposition
exhibits) in this action, and any other information produced, given, or filed in this action.
d. Parties mean the Plaintiffs and Defendants in this action.
4. Counsel for the SBI, after reviewing this file and related documents, has determined that
the SBI has no objection to producing the SBI Reports to the parties in response to Plaintiffs’
request for the following reasons:
a. No policy reason exists for denial of the request of Plaintiffs for production of
these materials.
b. There is no prejudice to the SBI by releasing this material.
c. There are no identities of persons contained in the materials which need to be
protected; and
d. Any criminal investigations which might have been the subject of these files have
been concluded.
5. Except as may be otherwise provided by further order of the Court, documents contained

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within the SBI Report shall be used for no purpose other than prosecuting or defending this action,
including any and all motions such as motions for summary judgment, and shall be disclosed only
to the persons identified below.
6. Access to and the use of any documents, or any part thereof, of the SBI Report shall be
limited to the following qualified persons/entities:
a. The parties and attorneys of record for the parties and any associated counsel,
and their legal assistants, paralegals, other staff members and employees, and law student
clerks; any insurers, their agents and employees; any employees and any representatives of
any insurance company involved in this case either directly or as an insurer of one or more
of the Defendants; and any outside company engaged by attorneys for the parties to
photocopy such documents or to reproduce photographs or videos.
b. Mediators;
c. Consultants and technical experts involved in the preparation of this action;
d. Independent expert witnesses, who are not a party to this litigation, who have
been specially employed or retained to assist in this litigation;
e. Court reporters, their transcribers, assistants and employees;
f. Any deposition or trial witness to the extent that it is necessary to tender to such
witness as an exhibit any or all of the SBI file in order to elicit testimony relevant to the
matters at issue in this case;
g. The presiding Judge or Magistrate Judge at any motions or the trial of this matter;
h. The jury (upon being sworn in); and
i. Any other person who is designated as a Qualified Person/Entity by agreement
by the parties and the SBI, through counsel, or by Order of the Court, after notice to all

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parties.
7. In addition, the above individuals and entities that are permitted access to the SBI Report
materials and information are hereby ordered not to show, convey or reproduce any documents so
designated or parts thereof, or copies thereof, or any matter contained therein, or any extracts or
summaries thereof, to any individual, or to any entity that would not otherwise have access to said
documents under the provisions of this Protective Order, except to the qualified persons listed
above.
8. In addition, the above individuals and entities that are permitted access to the SBI Report
materials and information shall only use the materials and information for purposes of this
litigation.
9. Counsel may make copies of material contained within the SBI Report for Plaintiffs’ or
Defendants’ experts upon receiving from said experts a written agreement that they will be bound
by the terms of this Protective Order. The requirement of obtaining such an agreement shall be
satisfied by having each of Plaintiffs’ or Defendants’ experts read, acknowledge, and agree in
writing to be bound by this Protective Order. A file of all such written acknowledgments, (Doc.
No. 61-1 at 14), shall be maintained by Plaintiffs’ and/or Defendants’ counsel. By signing the
declaration agreeing to be bound by this Protective Order, each of Plaintiffs’ or Defendants’
experts submits himself or herself to the jurisdiction of the Court for purposes of enforcement of
this Protective Order.
10. Before any parties’ Counsel shows a document contained within the SBI reports to
anyone outside of the attorney’s law firm as permitted by this order, in particular any document
used as an exhibit in a deposition or at trial, any identifying personal information of any
Department of Public Safety employee shall be redacted, including the employee’s address, phone

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number, and social security number. Counsel may maintain non-redacted copies of the SBI files,
but must redact that personal information of Department of Public Safety employees from any
document shared outside of Counsel’s law firm, including expert witnesses.
11. Counsel may make non-redacted copies of material contained within the SBI Report
for any party to this lawsuit who has not signed this Consent Protective Order at the initial time of
its entry but who later executes a written agreement that he/she/it will be bound by the terms of
this Protective Order. The requirement of obtaining such an agreement shall be satisfied by having
the party or a representative or attorney of the party, read, acknowledge, and agree in writing to be
bound by this Protective Order. A copy of such acknowledgement shall be provided to counsel for
the parties and counsel for the SBI. By signing the declaration agreeing to be bound by this
Protective Order, the party submits himself/herself/itself to the jurisdiction of the Court for
purposes of enforcement of this Protective Order.
12. In the event counsel for any party who has signed this consent protective order is
permitted to withdraw from this action, departing counsel may make non-redacted copies of
material contained within the SBI Report for any then unrepresented party to this lawsuit who,
prior to the production of those materials, executes the written acknowledgment and agreement to
be bound, (Doc. No. 61-1 at 14). A copy of such acknowledgement shall be provided to counsel
for all other parties and counsel for the SBI. By signing the declaration agreeing to be bound by
this Protective Order, the party, whether or not he obtains subsequent representation by counsel,
submits himself/herself/itself to the jurisdiction of the Court for purposes of enforcement of this
Protective Order.
13. The production or disclosure of documents and materials in the SBI Report, pursuant
to the terms of this Order, shall not waive or prejudice the right of any party to object to the

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production or admissibility of documents and materials in the SBI Report, or any other document,
material, information, or testimony, in this action or any other action.
14. All information and materials derived from the SBI Report shall be used solely in the
prosecution or defense of this action and shall not be used or disclosed by any person for any other
purpose, except as provided herein.
15. Counsel for the parties are responsible for notifying any person who is provided
information or material from the SBI Report of the terms of this Protective Order. Counsel shall
keep a record of all persons to whom disclosures are made. This paragraph does not apply to the
Judge, Magistrate Judge, their law clerks, or the jury. However, materials or information from the
SBI file that are filed with the Court are governed by later paragraphs of this Protective Order.
16. Any material and/or documents contained within the SBI Report that are submitted to
the Court in connection with a motion or other proceeding within the purview of this matter shall
be redacted as described in paragraph 10 and submitted under seal. Any portion of a transcript in
connection with this matter containing any material and/or documents contained within the SBI
Report that is submitted to the Court shall be submitted under seal. If motions, briefs, or other
pleadings contain material and/or documents contained within the SBI Report, or a summary or
discussion of such material and/or documents, then the pleading shall be filed under seal.
17. Each person who receives material and information described herein submits himself
or herself to the personal jurisdiction of the Court, wherever he or she shall be, for the enforcement
of this Order.
18. This Consent Protective Order shall not preclude a party from offering the SBI report
or any portion of it into evidence at the Trial of this case. As further set forth in the following
paragraphs, all objections to the admissibility of such materials and information are reserved and,

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if asserted, will be ruled upon by the Court at the appropriate time.
19. It is specifically agreed that making the materials or documents available for inspection
and the production of the materials or documents shall not constitute a waiver by the parties or
SBI of any claim of confidentiality, and the production of such materials or documents may or
may not be admissible into evidence at the trial of this action. The parties reserve all rights to
object to the admissibility of such materials and information as provided by the Federal Rules of
Evidence and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
20. Nothing in this Protective Order shall require disclosure of material or information
which the conveying party contends is protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege,
materials produced in anticipation of litigation, or as constituting attorney work product materials.
21. If some of the information released pursuant to this Protective Order contains confidential
insurance company employee or information, such information shall be treated as confidential by
the receiving party and be subject to the terms of this Order.
22. Within sixty (60) days after the final disposition of this action, including the conclusion
of any and all appeals, the parties shall return all original and copies of the SBI Report to counsel
for the SBI, or the parties, shall destroy the original and copies of the SBI report and certify having
done so, if so requested. Notwithstanding the preceding sentences of this paragraph, counsel for
each party may retain a complete copy of the counsel’s file, including correspondence, pleadings,
exhibits and any other file materials that reference or summarize the SBI report and including one
copy of the SBI report, in order to comply with all rules of that counsel’s malpractice insurance
carrier and all rules of the North Carolina State Bar with regard to file retention. This Consent
Protective Order shall continue to be binding after the conclusion of this litigation except that (a)
there shall be no restriction on documents that were used as exhibits for the Court (unless such

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exhibits were filed under seal) and (b) a party may seek the written permission of the other parties
and the SBI or further order of this Court with respect to the dissolution or modification of this
Order.
23. This Protective Order shall not prevent any party, or the SBI, from applying to the
Court for relief from this Protective Order or from applying to the Court for further or additional
Protective Orders, or from agreeing between themselves to modification of this Protective Order,
with the concurrence of the SBI and subject to the approval of the Court.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Consent Motion for Entry of
Protective Order, (Doc. No. 61), is GRANTED as set forth in this Order.

Signed: November 30, 2017

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