Sarah Aragon v. City of Los Angeles ( 2024 )

1 HYDEE FELDSTEIN SOTO, City Attorney DENISE C. MILLS, Chief Deputy City Attorney (SBN 191992) 2 SCOTT MARCUS, Chief Assistant City Attorney (SBN 184980) CORY M. BRENTE, Senior Assistant City Attorney (SBN 115453) 3 SHANT TASLAKIAN, Deputy City Attorney (SBN 272485) 200 N. Main Street, 6th Floor, City Hall East 4 Los Angeles, California 90012 Tel: (213) 978-8722 Fax: (213) 978-8785 5 Email: Shant.Taslakian@lacity.org 6 Attorneys for Defendants, CITY OF LOS ANGELES 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 SARAH ARAGON, Case No. CV 23-9522-CBM (JPRx) Plaintiff, 12 v. 13 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 14 CITY OF LOS ANGELES, et al. Defendant. 15 16 17 18 1. INTRODUCTION 19 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action may involve production of confidential, proprietary, or 21 private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use 22 for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, 23 the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated 24 Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 25 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it 26 affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items 27 that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. The 1 not entitle them to file Confidential Information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets 2 forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when 3 a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. 4 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 5 This action involves the City of Los Angeles and members of the Los Angeles 6 Police Department. Plaintiff is seeking materials and information that Defendants the 7 City of Los Angeles et al. (“City”) maintains as confidential, such as personnel files of the police officers involved in this incident, Internal Affairs materials and 8 information, video recordings, audio recordings, photographs, Internal Investigation 9 materials and information and other administrative materials and information 10 currently in the possession of the City and which the City believes need special 11 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting 12 this litigation. Further, Plaintiff is seeking information provided by third-party 13 witnesses. Plaintiff is also seeking official information contained in the personnel files 14 of the police officers involved in the subject incident, which the City maintains as 15 strictly confidential and which the City believes need special protection from public 16 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation. 17 The City asserts that the confidentiality of the materials and information sought 18 by Plaintiff is recognized by California and federal law, as evidenced inter alia by 19 California Penal Code section 832.7 and Kerr v. United States Dist. Ct. for N.D. Cal., 20 511 F.2d 192, 198 (9th Cir. 1975), aff'd, 426 U.S. 394 (1976). The City has not 21 publicly released the materials and information referenced above except under 22 protective order or pursuant to a court order, if at all. These materials and information 23 are of the type that could be used to initiate disciplinary action against Los Angeles 24 Police Department (“LAPD”) officers, and has previously been used as evidence in 25 disciplinary proceedings, where the officers’ conduct was considered to be contrary 26 to LAPD policy. 27 The City contends that absent a protective order delineating the responsibilities 1 and undue disclosure by one or more of the many attorneys, secretaries, law clerks, 2 paralegals and expert witnesses involved in this case, as well as the corollary risk of 3 embarrassment, harassment and professional and legal harm on the part of the LAPD officers referenced in the materials and information. 4 The City also contends that the unfettered disclosure of the materials and 5 information, absent a protective order, would allow the media to share this 6 information with potential jurors in the area, impacting the rights of the City herein to 7 receive a fair trial. 8 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 9 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 10 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 11 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and 12 in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve 13 the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. 14 It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for 15 tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it 16 has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause 17 why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 18 Plaintiff agrees that there is Good Cause for a Protective Order so as to preserve 19 the respective interests of the parties while streamlining the process of resolving any 20 disagreements. 21 The parties therefore stipulate that there is Good Cause for, and hereby jointly 22 request that the honorable Court issue a Protective Order regarding confidential 23 documents consistent with the terms and provisions of this Stipulation. However, the 24 entry of a Protective Order by the Court pursuant to this Stipulation shall not be 25 construed as any ruling by the Court on the aforementioned legal statements or 26 privilege claims in this section, no shall this section be construed as part of any such 27 Court Order. 1 2. DEFINITIONS 2 2.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 3 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Nonparty that challenges the designation 4 of information or items under this Order. 5 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 6 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 7 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) and as specified above in the Good Cause 8 Statement. 9 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their 10 support staff). 11 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Nonparty that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 15 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 16 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 17 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 18 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 19 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 20 an expert witness or as a consultant in this action. 21 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a Party to this Action. 22 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 23 counsel. 24 2.9 Nonparty: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 25 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 26 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a Party 27 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a Party and have appeared in this 1 Action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on 2 behalf of that Party, including support staff. 3 2.11 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 4 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 5 support staffs). 6 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Nonparty that produces Disclosure or 7 Discovery Material in this Action. 8 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 9 services (for example, photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 10 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 11 and their employees and subcontractors. 12 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 13 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 14 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 15 from a Producing Party. 16 3. SCOPE 17 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 18 Protected Material (as defined above) but also any information copied or extracted 19 from Protected Material; all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 20 Material; and any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 21 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 22 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the trial 23 judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 24 4. DURATION 25 Once a case proceeds to trial, all the information that was designated as 26 confidential or maintained under this Order and that is introduced or admitted as an 27 exhibit in trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of 1 proceed otherwise. See Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180- 2 81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 3 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” needed for merits-related 4 documents). Accordingly, the terms of this Order do not extend to that Protected 5 Material admitted into evidence beyond the beginning of trial. 6 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations 7 imposed by this Order will remain in effect as to all Protected Material that was not 8 introduced or not admitted into evidence at trial until a Designating Party agrees 9 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition is the later 10 of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice, 11 or (2) final judgment after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, 12 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any 13 motions or applications for extension of time under applicable law. 14 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 5.1 Each Party or Nonparty that designates information or items for 16 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 17 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent practicable, the 18 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 19 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other 20 portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 21 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 22 Indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 23 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (for 24 example, to unnecessarily encumber the case-development process or to impose 25 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party 26 to sanctions. 27 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items it 1 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable 2 designation. 3 5.2 Except as otherwise provided in this Order, Disclosure or Discovery 4 Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated 5 before the material is disclosed or produced. 6 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following: 7 (a) for information in documentary form (for example, paper or electronic 8 documents but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 9 proceedings), the Producing Party must affix at a minimum the legend 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains Protected Material. To the extent 11 practicable, if only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualify for 12 protection, the Producing Party must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (for 13 example, by making appropriate markings in the margins). 14 A Party or Nonparty that makes original documents available for inspection 15 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 16 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 17 before the designation, all material made available for inspection must be treated as 18 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 19 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or 20 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the 21 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend 22 to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the 23 material on a page qualify for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly 24 identify the protected portion(s) (for example, by making appropriate markings in the 25 margins). 26 /// 27 1 (b) for testimony given in depositions, the Designating Party must identify the 2 Disclosure or Discovery Material that is protected on the record, before the close of 3 the deposition. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 5 other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent place on the 6 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrant 8 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, must identify the protected 9 portion(s). 10 5.3 If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified 11 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to 12 secure protection under this Order for that material. On timely correction of a 13 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the 14 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 15 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 16 6.1 Any Party or Nonparty may challenge a designation of confidentiality at 17 any time consistent with the Court’s scheduling order. 18 6.2 The Challenging Party must initiate the dispute-resolution process (and, 19 if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37. 20 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such proceeding is on the Designating 21 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (for example, 22 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may expose 23 the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or 24 withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties must continue to afford the 25 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 26 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 27 /// 1 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 7.1 A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or 3 produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for 4 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material 5 may be disclosed only to the categories of people and under the conditions described 6 in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply 7 with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 8 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 9 location and in a manner sufficiently secure to ensure that access is limited to the 10 people authorized under this Order. 11 7.2 Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the 12 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to the following people: 14 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as 15 employees of that Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 16 disclose the information for this Action; 17 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 18 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 19 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 20 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (d) the Court and its personnel; 23 (e) court reporters and their staff; 24 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors 25 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 26 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 27 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses and attorneys for witnesses to whom 2 disclosure is reasonably necessary, provided that the deposing party requests that the 3 witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto and the witnesses will not be 4 permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the form, unless 5 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of 6 transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected 7 Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to 8 anyone except as permitted under this Order; and 9 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually 10 agreed on by any of the Parties engaged in settlement discussions or appointed by the 11 Court. 12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 13 OTHER LITIGATION 14 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 15 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification must 18 include a copy of the subpoena or court order unless prohibited by law; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to 20 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 21 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification must include a copy of 22 this Order; and 23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 24 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 26 the subpoena or court order should not produce any information designated in this 27 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination on the protective-order request 1 The Designating Party bears the burden and expense of seeking protection of its 2 Confidential Material, and nothing in these provisions should be construed as 3 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 4 directive from another court. 5 9. A NONPARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 6 IN THIS LITIGATION 7 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 8 Nonparty in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information is 9 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these 10 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Nonparty from seeking additional 11 protections. 12 (b) In the event that a Party is required by a valid discovery request to produce 13 a Nonparty’s Confidential Information in its possession and the Party is subject to an 14 agreement with the Nonparty not to produce the Nonparty’s Confidential Information, 15 then the Party must 16 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Nonparty 17 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 18 with a Nonparty; 19 (2) promptly provide the Nonparty with a copy of this Order, the relevant 20 discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information 21 requested; and 22 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 23 Nonparty, if requested. 24 (c) If the Nonparty fails to seek a protective order within 21 days of 25 receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce 26 the Nonparty’s Confidential Information responsive to the discovery request. If the 27 Nonparty timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party must not produce any 1 with the Nonparty before a ruling on the protective-order request. Absent a court 2 order to the contrary, the Nonparty must bear the burden and expense of seeking 3 protection of its Protected Material. 4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 If a Receiving Party learns that by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 6 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 7 Order, the Receiving Party must immediately notify the Designating Party in writing 8 of the unauthorized disclosures, use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies 9 of the Protected Material, inform the person or people to whom unauthorized 10 disclosures were made of the terms of this Order, and ask that person or people to 11 execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto 12 as Exhibit A. 13 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 14 PROTECTED MATERIAL 15 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 17 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 18 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 19 12. MISCELLANEOUS 20 12.1 Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its 21 modification by the Court. 22 12.2 By stipulating to the entry of this Order, no Party waives any right it 23 otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information or item on 24 any ground not addressed in this Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object 25 on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Order. 26 12.3 A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply 27 with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may be filed under seal only pursuant 1 a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is denied, then the Receiving 2 Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the 3 Court. 4 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 5 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 6 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 7 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this 8 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 9 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 10 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 11 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 12 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that identifies (by 13 category, when appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 14 and affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 15 compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the 16 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an 17 archival copy of all pleadings; motion papers; trial, deposition, and hearing 18 transcripts; legal memoranda; correspondence; deposition and trial exhibits; expert 19 reports; attorney work product; and consultant and expert work product even if such 20 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 21 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Order as set forth in Section 4 22 (DURATION). 23 14. SANCTIONS 24 Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 25 contempt, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary authorities, or 26 /// 27 /// 1 || other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 2 3 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 4 5 || DATED: 2/23/24 /s| “Ctan GF Lorant Attomeys for Plaintiff ' DATED: 2/23/24 |s| Shant Jaclohian 8 SHANT TASLAKIAN 9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 || DATED: 3/6/2024 11 {- f, Uf, 1 HON. JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ [full 5 address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the U.S. District Court 7 for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert 8 case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all terms of this 9 Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so 10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment, including contempt. I 11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 12 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 13 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the 15 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated 16 Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this 17 action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full name] of 18 _______________________________________ [full address and telephone 19 number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action 20 or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 Date: ______________________________________ 22 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 23 24 Printed name: _______________________________ 25 26 Signature: __________________________________ 27